Naomi Osaka, despite her upbeat reaction to losing in the US Open semi-finals, has still pointed out one unfortunate thing that happened during the match.
After all, she is bound to be somewhat critical, no matter how much of a brave face she put on in her post-match press conference.
She stormed into a one-set lead, performing brilliantly in the tiebreak, and had a golden opportunity to mimic that feat to secure her spot in the final.
Alas, Amanda Anisimova got her revenge, and would go on to win the third set and knock Naomi Osaka out.
There were obviously a handful of things that went wrong which led to her exit, and the Japanese superstar has sought to rationalise one of them in that press conference.
Naomi Osaka points out the ‘unfortunate’ part of her loss to Amanda Anisimova
Speaking to reporters, she was asked what might have gone wrong to have resulted in this match turning on its head like it did.
She admitted: “It’s kind of hard to say.
“I think, you know, you can kind of only live and learn. And for me, obviously, I didn’t remember it until you said it, so now I’m thinking about it, but, yeah, I mean, I went to that match knowing she’s one of the best returners in the world, and obviously, I feel like I’m one of the best servers, so it’s a little unfortunate.
“But also, um.. I can’t really say I’ve played, like, many matches in the semis of the Slam since I’ve been back.
“I would say she does have a little bit under her belt more than me, so, yeah, hopefully I can be in this position one more time and see if I learn something.”
Osaka has stated what her new goal is after the US Open, taking what positives she could from such a disappointing defeat.
Naomi Osaka’s first Grand Slam semi-final in over four years
Whilst falling right before the final will sting significantly, when put into the context of Osaka’s past few years, this can’t be viewed as anything but a huge success.
After all, it marked the first major semi-final that the 27-year-old has reached since winning the 2021 Australian Open, over four years ago.
She did take a year out during the time between then, but there has also been plenty of underperformance, including four first-round exits and many other second and third-round defeats.
This tournament really feels like the first time in many years where Osaka seemed ready to regularly return to the apex of the women’s game, and her elevation up to 14th in the world rankings solidifies that.
In the coming years, she will likely look back on this US Open run as the catalyst that sparked her back into action, and reminded the world that she is once again a contender for these elite honours.
