Think I'm going to take a break from playing for a while: Naomi Osaka after US Open defeat
Sep 04, 2021
New York [USA], September 4 : World Number 3 Naomi Osaka is unsure when she will play her next match following her third-round defeat against Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez at the ongoing US Open.
Leylah defeated Osaka by 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-3 to end the 2020 champion's title defense in the first week at the Flushing Meadows. The win is the 18-year-old's second Top 5 win of her career and puts the World No.73 into her first Round of 16 at a Slam, where she will face 2016 US Open champion, Angelique Kerber.
Afterwards, Osaka spoke to reporters and closed her brief press conference by revealing her intention to take a break. "I feel like for me recently when I win, I don't feel happy," Osaka said as she struggled to hold back tears, as per wtatennis.com. "I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad. I don't think that's normal."
When the US Open moderator offered to end the press conference, Osaka declined. "I kind of want to finish this," she said before composing herself.
"This is very hard to articulate. Basically, I feel like I'm kind of at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match. I think I'm going to take a break from playing for a while," Osaka added.
In the match, Osaka was up a set and a break, serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set, only to be denied. Notably, Osaka received a walkover into the third round after Serbia's Olga Danilovic withdrew ahead of their second-round match on Wednesday.
