Naomi Osaka suffers first-round loss to Amanda Anisimova in French Open
Naomi Osaka’s return to the French Open ended in the first round on Monday, and the four-time Grand Slam winner said she is leaning toward not playing at Wimbledon.
After she lost her opening match to Amanda Anisimova 7-5, 6-4 at Roland Garros on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Osaka was asked about whether the collective decision to remove ranking points from Wimbledon would influence her decision on whether to compete at the next Grand Slam on the circuit.
“I’m not 100 percent sure if I’m going to go there [to Wimbledon],” Osaka said. “I would love to go just to get some experience on the grass court, but, like at the same time for me, it’s kind of like — I don’t want to say pointless, no pun intended, but I’m the type of player that gets motivated by, like, seeing my ranking go up or like, you know, stuff like that. So I think the intention was really good, but the execution is kind of all over the place. When later asked more on what her thoughts were ahead of Wimbledon, she said, “Yeah, like for me, I’m not sure why but, like, I feel like if I play Wimbledon without points, it’s more like an exhibition. I know this isn’t true, right? But my brain just like feels that way. Whenever I think like something is like an exhibition, I just can’t go at it 100 percent. I didn’t even make my decision yet, but I’m leaning more towards not playing given the current circumstances but, you know, that might change.”
Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 who took two mental health breaks last season. That included one that began when she withdrew before her second-round match at the 2021 French Open. Anisimova is a 20-year-old American who reached the French Open semifinals in 2019. She also beat Osaka in the third round at the Australian Open in January.
On Monday morning in Paris, Osaka double-faulted twice on break point, once in each …