Pro Tennis Player Can’t Stop Thinking About Those Mesothelioma Ads

If you’ve ever listened to the radio or watched daytime television, you know this ad: “If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma you may be entitled to financial compensation.” Of course you know this. There’s even a years-old meme.

Naomi Osaka—the 19-year-old who upset defending champ Angelique Kerber in the first round of the U.S. Open—knows that ad too. After she beat Denisa Allertova in the second round yesterday, she mentioned that sometimes her mind wanders. A reporter asked her what it wanders to. Her answer:

Oh, God. Well, you know, once I was practicing, right, and my whole practice — you know, there is that commercial that says, “If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma,” that’s all I could think about for the whole practice. I was, like, why do I keep thinking this?

Then, like, during the breaks, all I could see was like that commercial where this woman was running in a field. I mean, it was a good practice. It’s just my mind wasn’t there. Like, I think it was just muscle memory and stuff. That was a weird day.

Let me put it in meme form so you can understand more easily.

I guess advertising works.

[U.S. Open]