Japan's Naomi Osaka covers her head between games against Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, at the third round of the US Open tennis championships in New York. Photo / AP
Japan's Naomi Osaka covers her head between games against Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, at the third round of the US Open tennis championships in New York. Photo / AP
Naomi Osaka looked over toward her agent and said she wanted to tell the world what the two of them had discussed privately after her US Open title defence ended with a racket-tossing, composure-missing, lead-evaporating loss.
His reply: "Sure."
And so Osaka, pausing every so often as her voice gotcaught on her words and her eyes filled with tears, said on Friday night (Saturday NZT) she is thinking of taking another break from tennis "for a while".
"I feel like for me, recently, when I win, I don't feel happy, I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad," Osaka said at her news conference following a 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4 loss to Leylah Fernandez, an 18-year-old from Canada who is ranked 73rd and never had been this far in Grand Slam competition. "I don't think that's normal."
Naomi Osaka, normally very stoic, throws her racquet after missing a forehand. No code violation but she lost the tiebreak to Fernandez pic.twitter.com/o8ZsVL8osM
The moderator in charge of the interview with reporters attempted to cut things off, but Osaka said she wanted to continue.
"This is very hard to articulate," she said, resting her left cheek in her hand. "Basically, I feel like I'm kind of at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match."
Naomi Osaka throws her racket during her match against Leylah Fernandez. Photo / AP
Crying, she lowered her black visor over her eyes and offered an apology, then patted her palms on both cheeks.
"Yeah," Osaka added, "I think I'm going to take a break from playing for a while."
This was the first Slam tournament for the 23-year-old Japanese player since she pulled out of the French Open before the second round to take a mental health break after having announced she would not participate in news conferences in Paris.
She also sat out Wimbledon, before participating in the Tokyo Olympics, where she lit the cauldron as one of the host nation's most famous athletes.
Canada's Leylah Fernandez celebrates after defeating Naomi Osaka. Photo / AP
Osaka owns four Grand Slam titles, including at the US Open in 2018 — beating Serena Williams in a chaotic final — and a year ago, plus two more on the hard courts of the Australian Open.
When she took a hiatus after Roland Garros, she revealed that she endures waves of anxiety before meeting with the media and has dealt with depression for three years.
