Tag: Naomi Osaka

Sports / Tennis

American Danielle Collins ousts Naomi Osaka in first round

American Danielle Collins ousted two-time U.S. Open winner Naomi Osaka on Tuesday night in the first round of the final Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season.

Collins, the No. 19 seed in the event, defeated Osaka 7-6 (6), 6-3 at Flushing Meadows, snapping a three-match losing streak against her. The match finished just after midnight. Collin only had one ace but put together six points in a row against Osaka and won three games in a row at one point.

“When you lose to someone three times, you get a lot of information on what you can do better,” Collins said, “With Naomi being the player that she is, she definitely whooped me the last time. I just had to learn from that and make adjustments and I think I did that.”

Osaka, who is also battling a bad back, had a 3-0 lead in the first set before Collins clawed her way back. Eleven of her winners came by using her backhand.

“I got lucky in some big moments,” she added. “But I was working really hard for the points. She wasn’t giving me a ton much free ones. Really overall I think it was a solid match, high level of tennis from both of us.”

saka attributed her loss to overthinking on the court.

“I’m the type of person that thinks a lot, to the point where I overthink. Sometimes when I play matches, I have to tell myself to stop thinking, just go more on instinct,” she said. “I feel like I just have to chill a little bit, because there’s a lot of like random chaos in my head right now.”

Collins only has two WTA singles titles in her career and has never made it further than the third round of the U.S. Open. She was runner-up at the Australian Open in January.…

Sports / Tennis

Naomi Osaka withdraws from Wimbledon, citing Achilles’ injury

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka withdrew from Wimbledon, citing a lingering left Achilles’ tendon injury.

This is the second consecutive year Osaka has sat out the tournament. The 24-year-old last participated in the grass-court Grand Slam in 2019, when Yulia Putintseva upset her in the opening round.

Osaka suffered the Achilles’ injury in Madrid in May. On Saturday, she wrote on social media, “My Achilles still isn’t right so I’ll see you next time.” She included a motivational note titled “after the storm comes the calm. “I feel like life keeps dealing cards and you’re never gonna be used to them but it’s how you adapt to uncomfortable situations that really says stuff about your character,” Osaka wrote. “I’ve been repeating mantras a lot in my head recently. I don’t know if it’s to subconsciously help myself through stressful times or to ease my mind into realizing that everything will work out fine as long as I put in the work. Cause what more can you do?” Osaka played through the Achilles’ injury with tape on her foot at the French Open last month. She fell to American Amanda Anisimova, 7-5, 6-4, in the first round. Osaka, who stretched her tendon during that match, said she took a painkiller beforehand.

Afterward, Osaka cited the Women’s Tennis Association removing ranking points from Wimbledon as a reason to skip the tournament. The WTA made that decision after the tournament banned Russian and Belarusian athletes amid the invasion of Ukraine.

Osaka, formerly the world’s top player, is ranked 42nd by the WTA after missing a significant amount of competition over the past few years. Osaka has played 17 matches this season.

“I’m not sure why, but I feel like if I play Wimbledon without points, it’s more like an exhibition,” Osaka told reporters last month. “I know this isn’t true, right? But my brain just feels that way. Whenever I think 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

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Sports / Tennis

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 …