I feel like my heart dies every time I lose

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday August 29, 2024

New York—Naomi Osaka was unable to carry over her momentum from her first Top-10 victory in over four years (against Jelena Ostapenko) in round one of the US Open, and she was knocked out of the second round by talented Czech Karolina Muchova on Thursday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The four-time major season finishes her Grand Slam season with a 3-4 record, and she was not shy about admitting that the loss was difficult to stomach, given how much work she has put in to make her comeback from maternity leave this season.

“It’s a little rough because I do take these losses really personally,” she told reporters after falling to the Czech 6-3, 7-6. “It’s like a dramatic word, but I feel like my heart dies every time I lose. It sucks a lot, but I’ve been trying to be more mature and learn and talk more about them.”

Osaka has three set points in the second set, serving at 5-4, 40-0, but got tight and blew her chance with some uncharacteristically loose play.

“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,” she said. “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.”

The 26-year-old drops to 17-16 overall on the year. She’s taken her ranking from outside of the Top 800 all the way to 85, so things are headed in the right direction.

“Honestly I feel like I’m coming back from pregnancy, but also it wasn’t like in 2022 I was like the best version of myself. So in some way I had to catch up to that, and then also I’m trying to pass it at the same time,” she said. I don’t know. 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.”

Osaka says she’s both frustrated that things are taking longer than she expected to come together, and hopeful that she’s putting in the work, and getting better step by step.

“Still in my brain I think that I can win these tournaments,” she said. “I feel like eventually it will all piece itself together. It might not be on the timeline that I want it to be, but I think it will come eventually.”