Naomi Osaka, a superstar tennis player from Japan who has won four major championships, shared her feelings after losing to Paula Badosa from Spain in the first round of the French Open. Osaka, who is 27 years old, recently won her first title in almost two years after taking a break for maternity leave in 2023.
In her match against Badosa, Osaka fought hard and even saved a set point before winning the first set in a tie-break. However, Badosa, who is ranked 10th, came back strong and won the match with scores of 6-7 (1-7), 6-1, 6-4.
After the match, Osaka had to step away from her press conference because she was feeling upset. She said, “As time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better. I hate disappointing people.” Osaka is currently training with Patrick Mouratoglou, who used to coach the famous Serena Williams.
Since returning to tennis after having her daughter Shai in July 2023, Osaka hasn’t made it past the third round in any major tournament.
During her match against Badosa, Osaka called for a medical timeout because she was dealing with painful blisters on her fingers. She explained, “Since Rome, I have had blisters on my hands. I think it’s from the friction of clay, because I don’t have blisters on any other surface.”
In another surprising match on Monday, ninth seed Emma Navarro lost in just 57 minutes to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro from Spain. The score was a shocking 6-0, 6-1. Navarro, who reached the semi-finals at last year’s US Open, couldn’t win a single serve during the match.
Bouzas Maneiro was close to making history by being the first woman to beat a top-10 player with a score of 6-0, 6-0 at a Grand Slam since 1989. However, Navarro managed to score a point and avoid a “double bagel” thanks to a mistake by Bouzas Maneiro.
Earlier this year, Navarro had an amazing win where she beat her opponent 6-0, 6-0 in a WTA final, but this time she struggled, getting broken seven times and making 23 mistakes compared to only four good shots.
Caroline Garcia from France also had a tough day as she played her last singles match at the French Open. The former world number four lost to Bernarda Pera from America with scores of 6-4, 6-4. Garcia, who is 31, was emotional as she prepared to play her final match at Roland Garros, where she had competed since 2011.
Garcia shared, “Stress and the desire to do well have often gotten in my way, especially here at Roland Garros, where I experienced some difficult moments.” She added that she always dreamed of winning the tournament, but even though she didn’t, she will always cherish the memories.
In other news, three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek won her match and will face Britain’s Emma Raducanu next. Madison Keys, who won the Australian Open and is ranked seventh, easily defeated Daria Saville with a score of 6-2, 6-1 in just 58 minutes.
Elena Rybakina, a former Wimbledon champion, had a tough match but managed to win against Julia Riera with scores of 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Daria Kasatkina celebrated her first Grand Slam match win as an Australian, beating Katerina Siniakova 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova also got her first win of 2025 by defeating Tatjana Maria 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, while 22nd seed Jelena Ostapenko came back to win against Polina Kudermetova with scores of 5-7, 6-0, 6-2.