Naomi Osaka looked over at her agent and said she wanted to tell the world what the two of them had discussed privately in an Arthur Ashe Stadium hallway after her U. Open title defense ended with a racket-tossing, composure-missing, lead-evaporating defeat in the third round.
And then when I lose, I feel very sad," Osaka said at her news conference following a , 2 , loss at Flushing Meadows to Leylah Fernandez, an year-old from Canada who is ranked 73rd and never had been this far in Grand Slam competition. The moderator in charge of the session with reporters attempted to cut things off, but Osaka said she wanted to continue. Crying, she lowered her black visor over her eyes and offered an apology, then patted her palms on both cheeks.
This was the first Slam tournament for the year-old Osaka 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 Japan's most famous athletes. Osaka owns four Grand Slam titles, including at the U. Open in β beating Serena Williams in a chaotic final β 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. Over the last week, Osaka has written on social media and spoken about her thoughts on the importance of self-belief and how she wants to ignore others' expectations.
The first sign Friday that things were not entirely OK with Osaka came when she smacked her racket against the court after dropping one point. Moments later, Osaka chucked her equipment, sending it bouncing and skidding halfway to the net.
