Naomi Osaka admitted she got nervous during the ‘pressure moments’ of her second round encounter with Karolina Muchova at the US Open.
Osaka, who is a two-time champion in New York, was knocked out of the tournament 6-3, 7-6(5), by the Czech world No.52 who is currently ranked more than 30 places higher than her. The defeat means she ends the season without winning back-to-back matches at any of the four Grand Slam events for the first time in her career since making her major debut in 2016.
The loss came just two days after Osaka got off to a solid start at Flushing Meadows by dropping only five games during her win over 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko. Coming into the tournament, she told reporters she made a promise to herself to be ‘as confident as she can.’
“I think for me this match was just so different from my match with Ostapenko,” said Osaka.
“I felt like I had to keep fighting. I didn’t feel like I was playing as perfectly as before but I don’t think you can play perfectly every match.
“I think during the pressure moments I got nervous, and I don’t know if I just have to keep playing more matches and get used to that feeling, especially on a really big stage.
“Honestly, if I get past the disappointment, I feel pretty proud of myself to have gotten that many opportunities while still feeling like I could have played much better.”
It has been a frustrating year for the 26-year-old who returned to competitive tennis in January following the birth of her first child. She has only reached the quarter-final stage in two out of 17 tournaments played which were in Doha and Rosmalen. However, Osaka has more wins than losses so far in 2024 (17-16) and five of those wins were over top 20 players.
“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.”
Despite her mixed results on the Tour, the former world No.1 believes she is heading in the right direction with the help of her team.
“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 said.
“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.”
Osaka has confirmed she will be playing in the Asian swing of the Tour and the Billie Jean King Cup which will get underway next month.
Meanwhile, Muchova will play Anastasia Potapova in the third round.
