Naomi Osaka’s long-awaited return to Wimbledon has come to an end after she was knocked out in the second round in straight sets.
The four-time Grand Slam champion fell 6-4, 6-1, to Emma Navarro who is currently ranked almost 100 places higher than her at 17th in the world. Osaka failed to generate momentum on the court as she produced a costly 16 unforced errors. A disappointing outcome for the Japanese star who was playing at Wimbledon for the first time since 2019.
As to where it went wrong for Osaka, she admits her mentality during the match was an issue.
“I feel like even though in the beginning it was kind of like we were trading games, I don’t know why, I didn’t feel fully confident in myself.” She said.
“I didn’t feel like I was playing that well. I guess those doubts started trickling a lot into my game. Obviously, the second set wasn’t that great.”
Osaka’s doubts about her ability follow what has been an encouraging few weeks on the Tour. At the French Open, she was the only player to take a set off world No.1 Iga Swiatek. Then on the grass, she beat fourth seed Elise Mertens to reach the quarter-finals of S-Hertogenbosch. However, she lost her opening match at another tournament in Berlin.
“I don’t know why those thoughts were so prevalent,” she continued.
“I haven’t thought about it too much.”
There could be a silver lining for Osaka with the early exit giving her more time to prepare for the Olympics in Paris. The tennis event will be held on clay at the same venue as the French Open. If she wins a medal, the 26-year-old will become the first female player from Japan to do so.
“Since I’m out so early, I really want to take the time and train for the Olympics because I do want to do well,” she said.
“I do know that my last clay court match was really good. So I might end up liking that surface a lot more than grass now.
“I think I’m just going to go home and see what Shai (her daughter) is doing and then plan from there.”
Osaka’s win-loss record for the season currently stands at 15-13.
