Naomi Osaka Unsure Of Wimbledon Participation After Roland Garros Exit - UBITENNIS
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Naomi Osaka Unsure Of Wimbledon Participation After Roland Garros Exit

Naomi Osaka exited Roland Garros in the opening round after a 6-4 7-5 defeat to Amanda Anisimova.

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1 month ago

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Naomi Osaka (@RolandGarros - Twitter)

Naomi Osaka is unsure of her participation at Wimbledon as she points to no ranking points and injuries as part of her potential decision.

 

The three-time grand slam champion played at a good level but crashed out of Roland Garros at the opening round to former semi-finalist Amanda Anisimova 6-4 7-5.

Osaka hit eight double faults as her serving was impacted by an Achilles problem which she admitted in her post-match press conference that she didn’t have a lot of time to practice, “I didn’t feel, like, my Achilles until the second set, I would say,” Osaka said after the match.

“I think the serve issue was just down to like playing a really good returner and kind of being a bit shaken by what she could possibly do. So I was trying to maybe go for too much, more than usual.

“And also, yeah, I also haven’t practiced as much as I wanted to. But, yeah, I was really grateful for the crowd, like I could feel a lot of energy. It was really fun to play there, even though I didn’t win.”

Osaka’s performance suggests that she played at a good level despite the lack of preparation and will take the positives heading into the rest of the season.

However the former US Open champion had her say on Wimbledon not having any ranking points due.

This is a decision made by the WTA and ATP after Wimbledon announced that they were banning Russian and Belarusian players from competing there.

Osaka told the press today that she is uncertain whether she will compete at the tournament and labelled the event an ‘exhibition.’

“I’m not sure why, but like, I feel like if I play Wimbledon without points, it’s more like an exhibition. I know this isn’t true, right? But my brain just like feels that way. Whenever I think like something is like an exhibition, I just can’t go at it 100%.

“And I would say like the decision is kind of affecting, like, my mentality going into grass, like I’m not 100% sure if I’m going to go there. I’m the type of player that gets motivated by, like, seeing my ranking go up or like, you know, stuff like that. So I think the intention was really good, but the execution is kind of all over the place.

“I didn’t even make my decision yet, but I’m leaning more towards not playing given the current circumstances, but, you know, that might change. I do want to like rack up more experience on the grass, and I know that like the Berlin tournament is giving out points, so that would be a really good opportunity for me.”

Osaka is not the only player to express her doubts over Wimbledon as Tennis’ governing bodies face pressure and backlash over the decision around the event.

As for Osaka the future seems bright for her and the Japanese star aims to be back at the top of the world rankings by the end of next year, “No. 1 is definitely a really high goal for next year, but hopefully by the end of this year, if I keep working hard, I will get closer to where I want to go,” Osaka concluded.

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(VIDEO EXCLUSIVE) The Wimbledon Clash Between Djokovic And Sinner Could Have Been Better

It was an epic five-set clash but imagine how better the match would have been if both were playing well at the same time…
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17 hours ago

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05/07/2022

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Hall of Famer Steve Flink and Ubitennis’ Ubaldo Scanagatta analyse the dramatic events that unfolded on Tuesday at Wimbledon.

 

Top seed Novak Djokovic staged an epic comeback to oust Jannik Sinner in a match of two halves. Meanwhile, Cameron Norrie brought delight to the British fans.

On the other side of the draw, how will Rafael Nadal fair against the in-form Taylor Fritz? The Spaniard recently sidestepped a question about a potential new injury. 

As for the women’s draw, Ons Jabeur made history by becoming the first Arab player to reach a major quarter-final. She will next play 34-year-old mum-of-two Tatjana Maria who had never been beyond the third round of a major until now. 

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The Wimbledon Naughty List: Which Players Have Been Fined And What For?

Ubitennis takes a look at who has been hit with a penalty and more importantly why.
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2 days ago

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04/07/2022

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Nick Kyrgios might be the player everybody’s talking about due to his behavior but few realize that he is one of 19 to be hit with a financial penalty during the first week of Wimbledon.

In fact, more than $75,000 worth of fines has already been issued during the first week of the championships. According to official data, more than three times as many men have committed an offense than women. Although interestingly it is only two female players who have been punished for receiving coaching and nobody in the men’s draw.

Australia’s Kyrgios leads the leaderboard for the biggest fine after what has been a controversial past few days. In his first round match, he argued with the umpire and spat in front of some people in the crowd who he said were ‘disrespecting him.’ Resulting in him being hit with a $10,000 penalty. He later said during his press conference that he was tired of being verbally abused by some fans watching him play.

 

Then on Saturday in a dramatic clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas he argued once again with officials, got a warning for swearing and at one stage called for his opponent to be defaulted for hitting a ball into the stands. 

“Why would I need to apologize? I’m getting fined for it. Because I got — I always get fined. I’m very keen to see what he will get after today.” Kyrgios said following his third round win. 

Kyrgios has been fined another $4000 for his antics and Tsitsipas has to pay $10,000 for his behavior. The relationship between the two took another dramatic turn after the match when the Greek accused his peer of bullying during an explosive press conference. 

After Kyrgios, America’s Reilly Opelka was docked $5000 for swearing. The value of the fine is an interesting one when three other players have also been fined for the same offense but they only have to pay $3000. The difference could be due to repeated swearing during the match.

The majority of the men’s fInes are for either unsportsmanlike conduct or audible obscenities. The only exception is Benoit Paire who was fined $2500 for equipment abuse.

As for the ladies’ draw, Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko received the biggest fine ($4500) for coaching. Former world No.1 Garbine Muguruza was another player to be published for her actions.

Here is a breakdown of the fines issued between Day 1 and Day 6 of the championships. 

WOMEN

  • Daria Saville AUS (round one) $4000 – EQUIPMENT ABUSE
  • Lesia Tsurenko UKR (round two) $4500 – COACHING
  • Garbine Mugurza ESP (round 2) $3500 – COACHING
  • Harriet Dart GBR (round 2) $4000 – EQUIPMENT ABUSE

MEN

  • Fernando verdasco ESP (round one) $3000 – AUDIBLE OBSCENITY
  • Adrian Mannarino FRA (round one) $3000 – UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
  • Stan Wawrinka SWI (round one) $3000 – UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
  • Yoshihito Nishioka JPA (round one) $3000 – UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
  • Nick Kyrgios AUS (round one) $10,000 – UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
  • Pedro Martinez ESP (round one) $3000 – UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
  • Diego Schwartzman ARG (round one) $3000 – AUDIBLE OBSCENITY
  • Lukas Klein SVK (round one) $3000 –  UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
  • Reilly Opelka USA (round two) $5000 – AUDIBLE OBSCENITY
  • Benoit Paire (round one) $2500 – EQUIPMENT ABUSE
  • Jiri Vesely CZE (round two) $3000 – UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
  • Alejandro Davidovich-Fokina ESP (round two) $3000 – AUDIBLE OBSCENITY
  • Denis Shapovalov CAN (round 2) £3000 – UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
  • Nick Kyrgios (round 3) $4000 – AUDIBLE OBSCENITY
  • Stefanos Tsitsipas (round 3) $10,000 – UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT

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(VIDEO) Day 7 at Wimbledon: Jannik Sinner Stuns Alcaraz, Djokovic Fights Back

Ubitennis found Ubaldo Scanagatta reflects on all the action that took place on Sunday with renowned commentator Steve Flink.
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3 days ago

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04/07/2022

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Jannik Sinner joins a small group of only six Italian men to have reached the last eight at SW19. The 20-year-old ousted the fierce Carlos Alcaraz in four sets. Another four-set triumph was Djokovic’s win over Dutch walk card Tim Van Rijthoven.

 

Hall of Famer Flink joins Ubitennis to give his view on the events that have taken place. 

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