Naomi Osaka admitted that she was “intimidated” by Ons Jabeur after upsetting the world No. 16 at the Canadian Open.

Jabeur is one of the most popular players in the locker room and has even been dubbed the ‘Minister of Happiness’.

But Osaka explained that the Tunisian was like a “killer” once she stepped on the court, getting rid of her usual smiley demeanour.

The former world No. 1 sent Jabeur packing in the first round in Toronto with a convincing 6-3 6-1 victory. Jabeur has been struggling with injuries of late, pulling out of the recent Washington tournament, but it was still no easy feat to beat her.

Osaka admitted she was “thrown off” when Jabeur didn’t smile at her during the match, having been so used to the 29-year-old’s friendly nature off the court. The four-time Grand Slam champion was asked about Jabeur after the match and shared the contrast in her on and off-court personas.

“I mean, I think she’s the Minister of Happiness, right? I think she’s the friendliest, nicest player. I can’t say enough good things about her. She’s been that way since I was like 16, 17, however old I was when we first met,” Osaka smiled.

“I think, as a competitor, it’s kind of intimidating, because she’s, like, when I saw her at the net, she wasn’t smiling, so it threw me off just because she smiles all the time and I was like, Whoa, like, Oh, we’re here now.”

While Osaka has had to get used to Jabeur’s ruthlessness on the court, she claimed that it made the Tunisian a top player. The 26-year-old added: “Yeah, I think, you know, obviously she’s one of the best players in the world, and she got that way for a reason because she is a killer and she is competitive, so it’s kind of cool to see.”