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Updated September 4th, 2021 at 09:27 IST

Naomi Osaka to take break from tennis after US Open 2021 loss to Leylah Fernandez

Naomi Osaka was upset by Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4 ending her dream of defending the crown she won last year.

Reported by: Suraj Alva
Naomi Osaka takes indefinite break form tennis
Image: AP | Image:self
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Naomi Osaka has shocked the tennis fraternity by announcing an indefinite break from tennis following her third-round loss at US Open 2021. Osaka was upset by Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4 ending her dream of defending the crown she won last year. The announcement was made by the former champion in the press conference where she revealed tennis no longer makes her happy, and she wasn't sure when she planned to come back. 

US Open 2021: Naomi Osaka taking break from tennis 

Speaking to the reporters post her third-round loss to Leylah Fernandez, she said,  "When I win I don't feel happy. I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad. I don't think that's normal. I feel like I'm kind of at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do," she added after a pause, "and I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match…I think I'm going to take a break from playing for a while."

In the build-up to the US Open 2021, the 23-year-old Naomi Osaka in her Twitter had said that she can no longer "burden" herself with the expectations of others. Noami Oska Twitter post read, "Recently I've been asking myself why do I feel the way I do, and I realise one of the reasons is because internally I think I'm never good enough. I've never told myself that I've done a good job but I do know I constantly tell myself that I suck or I could do better." 
 

She further wrote, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm gonna try to celebrate myself and my accomplishments more, I think we all should. Your life is your own and you shouldn't value yourself on other people's standards. I know I give my heart to everything I can and if that's not good enough for some then my apologies, but I can't burden myself with those expectations anymore.

Naomi Osaka taking a break from tennis comes after the Japanese tennis star opened up about mental issues which led to her withdrawal from French Open as well as Wimbledon. She made her return to Tokyo Olympics only to be dumped in the early stages of the tournament. Speaking to the press regarding her French Open withdrawal, Osaka said,  “Honestly, I feel like there's a lot of things that I did wrong at that moment, but I'm also the type of person that's very in the moment. Like whatever I feel, I'll say it or do it. I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. I think there's a lot of things that I learned to do better. Of course, I don't feel the same situation will happen again would say maybe think it through a bit more in the way that, like, I didn't know how big of a deal it would become.”

US Open 2021: Naomi Osaka smashes racket in frustration

Naomi Osaka who looked all over the place in her match against Leylah Fernandez post the first set had an emotional meltdown which led to her smashing her racket due to frustration. The defending US Open champion chucked her equipment, sending it bouncing and skidding halfway to the net. Osaka threw her racket at least three times and was finally hit with a code violation in the third set when she hit the ball into the stands. She even draped a towel over her head as she took a break following her second-set loss.

 

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Published September 4th, 2021 at 09:26 IST

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