Coping with injury
After tumbling as low as world No.85 in February, the Japanese 24-year-old rebounded in Miami to reach the final where she succumbed to the razor-sharp Swiatek.
It was enough to haul her back into the top 40 before an Achilles injury picked up in Madrid limited her to just two matches on clay.
“For me, there is no way I'm not going to play this tournament,” she said. “So of course you kind of have to manage things, but at the same time, I'm going to pop a few painkillers, it is what it is.
“I have actually played a lot of Grand Slams with something. Australia, when I played Kvitova [in the 2019 final], like for five matches I had this really bad back thing.
“So I think maybe there is a possibility I could play really good when I have an injury, because I feel like I don't have anything to lose.”