LONDON: Naomi Osaka is not one to hide behind cliches. When things go wrong, she doesn’t deflect or spin the story. At Wimbledon on Friday, after a bruising Grand Slam defeat — this time at the hands of Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova — the former world number one was certainly in no mood for platitudes.
“I’m just going to be a negative human being today. I’m so sorry,” she told reporters, more weary than bitter, after her 3-6 6-4 6-4 third-round loss. “I have nothing positive to say about myself. Honestly, right now I’m just really upset.”
It was an unflinching performance in the press room, mirroring the one she had just delivered on Court Two. Osaka had started brightly, striking the ball with the same authority that once made her the sport’s most fearsome hard-court hitter. But as the match wore on, the rhythm faded, the first serve faltered, and Pavlyuchenkova’s relentless pressure told.
“I low-key busted a vein in my hand,” Osaka said with a wry smile, a throwaway remark that carried the weight of someone giving everything — physically and emotionally — to a cause that still refuses to cooperate.
This wasn’t Osaka being outclassed, it was a tight contest she believed she could win. “I actually thought I could play well. Not saying I didn’t play well, but… make a deep run here,” she said, her voice trailing into frustration. “Clearly, I need to work on a couple of things.”
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Since returning to the tour after maternity leave, Osaka has shown glimpses of the player who once conquered Melbourne and New York. But her comeback remains frustratingly incomplete — flashes of brilliance surrounded by periods of struggle.
Asked about her goals, she was disarmingly open: “I feel like while I still have the opportunity to try to do it, I want to. Even though I get very upset when I lose… but I think that’s my competitive nature. That’s also the younger sister syndrome.”
On her daughter’s birthday week, Osaka wanted to give herself — and her supporters — something to celebrate. Instead, she walked off court feeling once again the familiar ache of what could have been.
“No person wants to feel this way, like, multiple times throughout the year, but tennis players are crazy, so…” she smiled sadly.
“I’m glad to be done with this, and I’m looking forward to the hard courts.”
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