Tennis champion Naomi Osaka makes brutal admission after Wimbledon loss then turns on media
Osaka is an Australian Open and US Open champion but, after winning the Australian Open in 2021 and later taking time out to give birth, the former world No.1 has failed to progress past the third round of a major tournament.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Naomi Osaka devastated after Wimbledon loss.
Her bid to reach the last-16 of a slam again failed overnight at Wimbledon, after she surrendered a one-set lead to go down 3-6 6-4 6-4 to former French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
And in the press conference that followed Osaka cut a sad and dejected figure, where she was brutally honest.
'Honestly, right now I'm just really upset,' she said after the match.
'I'm just gonna be a negative human being today.
'I'm so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I'm working on.
'It was my daughter's birthday. I was happy about that this week. Other than that, today, I'm just constantly replaying the match.
'I think if I look back on it, I can be happy with how I played. I started getting a lot more comfortable on grass.
'It's because I actually thought I could play well in general. Not saying I didn't play well, but make a deep run here. I wanted to do better than I did before. Also, I felt like I was trying so hard. I low-key busted a vein in my hand.'
'I feel like, while I still have the opportunity to try to (compete), I want to.
'Even though I get very upset when I lose, but I think that's my competitive nature.'
Osaka was also in tears at the French Open when she lost to Paula Badosa in the third set ... and after the Wimbledon loss she was asked to compare the two experiences.
'I think in Paris ... when I sat here, I was very emotional. Now I don't feel anything,' she said.
'I guess I prefer to feel nothing than everything.'
The press conference went viral where it was splashed across social media and various media outlets.
But the 27-year-old later fumed about how she was portrayed.
'Bro ... why is it every time I do a press conference after a loss the ESPNs and blogs gotta clip it and put it up,' she said on X (formerly Twitter).
'WTF, why don't they clip my press conferences after I win? Like, why push the narrative that I'm always sad?
'Sure I was disappointed a couple hours ago, now I'm motivated to do better. That's human emotions. The way they clip me I feel like I should be fake happy all the time.'
Osaka is one of the most marketable players on the tournament and has strong army of fans across the world, particularly in Japan (who she represents) and in the US (where she lives).
And after the press conference, fans reached out.
'I am sending Naomi Osaka so much love. I hate to see her looking and feeling down. It appears she hasn't been herself in a while and that's so hard to see,' one fan said.
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