Emotional Naomi Osaka calls herself a 'negative human being' who has 'nothing positive'
By NATHAN SALT
Naomi Osaka found herself holding back tears as she described herself as a 'negative human being' following a third round exit at Wimbledon.
Osaka reached round three for the first time in seven years and looked to be in control when she won the first set against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
But things unravelled thereafter and Osaka crashed out following a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Pavlyuchenkova, leaving the 27-year-old in no mood for silver linings.
'I'm just going to be a negative human being today. I'm so sorry,' an emotional Osaka said.
'I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I'm working on.
'I mean, it was my daughter's birthday, so I was happy about that this week. Other than that, it's just today I'm just constantly replaying the match now.'
Naomi Osaka was beating herself up after being knocked out of Wimbledon in the third round
Osaka felt she could have a deep run but her exit left her on the brink of tears on Friday
She dropped to her knees during the deciding set and was very critical in the aftermath
Osaka takes defeats extremely hard, more so than many fellow players on the WTA Tour, and this was no different.
'I think it's 'cause I actually thought I could play well, like, in general,' she added.
'Not saying I didn't play well, but make a deep run here. I wanted to do better than I did before.
'Also, I felt like I was trying so hard. I low key busted a vein in my hand, so...'
Osaka, who had Nick Kyrgios once again watching on from her player box, was seen trying to calm herself down at 0-3 in the deciding set but talking to herself is not something she believes is unique to her own game.
'I think every tennis player talks to themselves. That's why we're all kind of crazy,' she said.
'I mean, I think for me, it's not like I can really even be mad at myself. I was thinking about the break points that I had. She hit some really good serves. Then she hit a backhand. I can't really do that much about it.
'Obviously I'm still going to beat myself up a little bit.'
Attention now turns to the hard court swing, where Osaka historically has enjoyed a great deal of success.
'I think definitely my relationship with grass improves, even though I felt I wanted to do better results-wise,' Osaka added.
'I think with each tournament, I learned a little bit more.
'I think with her today, I don't know if I've only ever played her on hard court. I know thinks the first time I played her on grass. I think her game's a little more suited for grass than mine at the current moment.
'Yeah, I'm glad to be done with this, and I'm looking forward to the hard courts.'
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