

ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — Naomi Osaka briefly left the French Open interview room in tears Monday as she tried to come to terms with an agonizing first-round defeat to No. 10 seed Paula Badosa.
The former world No. 1. was beaten 7-6 (7-1), 1-6, 4-6 by Badosa, and after another difficult early draw at a major — and a defeat in which she led by a break of serve in the final set — Osaka, 27, was visibly emotional as she opened up on how such losses make her feel.
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After explaining that close defeats hurt more than they used to because she expects more of herself deeper into her comeback she described how they impact those around her, including her coach, Patrick Mouratgolou.
“I hate disappointing people,” Osaka said. “So even with Patrick, I was thinking this just now… But he goes from working with the greatest player ever (Serena Williams, who Mouratoglou coached for a decade) to, like, ‘What the f— this is?’ You know what I mean? Sorry for cursing, I hope I don’t get fined, but…”
At that point Osaka left the room for a couple of minutes to gather herself, before returning to field further questions.
Osaka returned to tennis for the 2024 season after giving birth to her daughter, Shai, but has struggled to hit the heights of the early part of her career, when she won four Grand Slams and became the world No. 1. Recently, she has been in better form, winning a second-tier event in France and then reaching the fourth round of the Italian Open in Rome. Those runs took her back into the world’s top 50 for the first time since she returned to the WTA Tour.
Monday’s disappointment came almost a year after Osaka held match point against defending champion Iga Swiatek on Court Philippe-Chatrier, but ended up losing. After that defeat, she memorably lamented that “results aren’t resulting,” but added that she felt she was “growing every tournament” and that she was proud of herself. Since then, Osaka has lost a series of tough matches at the highest level of tennis and is yet to have a Grand Slam defeat that could be characterized as an upset during her return to the sport.
It was at Roland Garros in 2021 that Osaka withdrew from media commitments because of concerns the impact of news conferences had on her mental health. In a statement on Instagram, Osaka said that fielding negative questions after a loss felt like “kicking a person while they are down.”
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She was fined by the tournament for not holding a press conference after winning in the first round, and then withdrew from the event after the leaders of the four Grand Slams threatened harsher penalties, including expulsion. She then took a brief break from the sport, as she has done subsequently.
It’s not clear yet when Osaka will play again — she could opt to play another WTA 125 event, a level below the main tour, in the next week. Meanwhile Badosa, the No. 10 seed and a former world No. 2, will face America’s McCartney Kessler or Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania in the French Open second round.
(Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP via Getty Images)
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