NEW YORK (Reuters) – Naomi Osaka says 2024 is her “learning year” after coming back to the tour from a maternity break and the former world number one is trying to figure out how to better cope with the setbacks after being given a crash course in early Grand Slam exits.
Osaka has four major titles under her belt but the second round at Flushing Meadows, Wimbledon and Roland Garros was as good as it got this year for the Japanese 26-year-old, who exited the Australian Open in the first round.
On Thursday she lost 6-3 7-6(5) to Karolina Muchova, unable to get to grips with the Czech’s superb serve-and-volley tennis.
“It’s a little rough because I do take these losses really personally. It’s like a dramatic word, but I feel like my heart dies every time I lose,” she said.
“I’ve been trying to be more mature and learn and talk more about them.”
Osaka has been a champion for mental health in sport as she publicly struggled with the pressure to succeed, telling reporters in Flushing in 2021 that she no longer felt joy – only relief – when she won.
She has a new perspective now, she says, but is having to deal with frequent disappointments after packing her schedule since returning to the tour in January after 15 months away.
“It’s been a little difficult because obviously I can only gauge how I’m doing by results. Like, I feel faster. I feel better, but I lost in the second round. So it’s a little rough,” she told reporters.
“But, also, it’s been fun playing a lot of tournaments. It’s been a commitment for sure, but I’ve been able to go to different cities that I’ve never been to.”
She lost in the second round of qualifying in Cincinnati but gave glimpses of her brilliance in New York as she handed 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko a straight-sets defeat in the first round.
“This year for me has been a learning year. I put a lot of energy and effort into all the tournaments that I played,” she said. “Obviously the U.S. Open is very special to me.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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