Naomi Osaka Says She Would Handle Dramatic French Open Exit Differently Now - Forbes

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Topline

Tennis star Naomi Osaka said she won’t pull out of any future tournaments the way she dropped out of the French Open over the summer, telling reporters Friday she would make different choices if she could do it over again.

Key Facts

Osaka, who will begin defense of her U.S. Open women’s singles title next week, told reporters in New York City Friday she thinks “there’s a lot of things I did wrong” when it came to her dramatic Roland Garros exit over her mental health.

If she could go back, she would “think it through a bit more,” Osaka said, saying she “didn’t know how big a deal it would become.”

Osaka admitted she has a difficult time keeping her emotions off the court, saying that especially early in her career, if she was struggling in her personal life, “you could kind of see it in my playing.”

Crucial Quote

“It would be really cool if I could draw that line and be able to be like a robot Superman that could go on the court, focus just on tennis,” Osaka said. "But no, I'm the type that kind of focuses on everything at one time. That's why everything is sort of muddled to me."

Big Number

$37 million. That’s how much Forbes estimates Osaka raked in between May 2019 and May 2020, making her the highest-paid female athlete of all time in a single year.

Key Background

Osaka said Friday she’s feeling confident ahead of the U.S. Open next week, saying she’s “pretty happy,” with how she’s playing. Osaka has had a bumpy year of competition after she won the Australian Open in January. In June, Osaka dropped out of the French Open after being fined $15,000 for skipping out on a post-match press conference. Osaka said before the tournament she would not take part in the conferences because of the effect they had had on her mental health. “I believe that the whole situation is kicking a person while they’re down and I don’t understand the reasoning behind it,” Osaka said. The following month, she withdrew from Wimbledon to take “some personal time with friends and family,” according to a statement from her agent. Osaka did compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games in her native Japan, but was knocked out in a third-round upset by Czech opponent Marketa Vondrousova.