Indian Wells (United States) (AFP) – Naomi Osaka’s roller-coaster season continued with a first-round loss at Indian Wells on Wednesday that left the four-time Grand Slam winner apologizing on social media. “Worst match I’ve ever played in my life,” the former world number one from Japan said in a post on Threads shortly after falling 6-4, 6-4 to Colombia’s Camila Osorio. “Wow, I’m so sorry to everyone who watched that.”
But speaking to reporters, Osaka was a little less hard on herself as she assessed her first match since she was forced out of the Australian Open by the same abdominal injury that caused her to retire from the final in Auckland. “I don’t think it was too good on my end,” Osaka said. “There were certain things that felt extremely off, because I could only start to practice serving after a certain amount of time and stuff like that. So I think given the situation, it wasn’t that terrible. But I would have liked to win and continue playing the tournament.”
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Osaka’s self-criticism may have stemmed from her frustration that a year that started so promisingly — with her first WTA final since 2022 — had been disrupted by injury. But the news wasn’t all bad. “Firstly, I’m not injured,” she said. “I feel really good, which is, I guess, a positive to take out of this.” Secondly, it feels really weird because I do think I did well in Australia. It feels like a little bit of a stopping/starting again.”
Osaka, who won her first WTA title at Indian Wells in 2018, said her inability to control her shots gave her “not a good feeling whenever I would try to hit the balls that I feel like would normally go in.” She noted that she had her chances in the match, including break points in the final game that Osorio saved to close it out.
Osaka said her struggles for consistency last year gave her some perspective. “When I think about last year, I feel completely fine right now because it just feels like a little bump in the road,” said the 27-year-old, who will be back in action in Miami later this month.
© 2024 AFP
