Naomi Osaka Opens Up After Wimbledon Loss: “I’m Human, Not a Headline”

Wimbledon is turning out to be a tough ride for some of the biggest names in tennis, and Naomi Osaka just joined the list. The four-time Grand Slam champ was knocked out in the third round after losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, despite starting off strong.

And if you’ve been following Naomi since she became a mama, you know: she’s still fighting to break through to that second week of a Slam since giving birth to her baby girl, Shai, in 2024.

After the match, Naomi kept it all the way real with reporters. She admitted, “In Paris, I was very emotional. Now I don’t feel anything, so I guess I’d prefer to feel nothing than everything.”

Sis was candid about the pressure, especially with legendary coach Patrick Mouratoglou (who coached Serena, no less!) in her corner. “He goes from working with the greatest player ever to, like, ‘What the f— is this?’ You know what I mean? Sorry for cursing…”

Naomi opened up about the disappointment, saying she truly believed she was ready for a deep run this year. “I think it’s ’cause I actually thought I could play well, like, in general… I wanted to do better than I did before. Also, I felt like I was trying so hard,” she told the press, adding that she can be her own toughest critic.

“I’m just going to be a negative human being today. I’m so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I’m working on,” she said—reminding everyone she’s human, with ups and downs like the rest of us.

But the headlines? Naomi’s not feeling them. She hopped on Threads to call out how the media always clips her post-loss pressers but rarely shows her wins: “Bro, why is it every time I do a press conference after a loss, the ESPNs and blogs gotta clip it and put it up? Why don’t they clip my press conferences after I win?

Like, why push the narrative that I’m always sad?” And listenshe’s got a point! “Sure, I was disappointed a couple hours ago, now I’m motivated to do better. That’s human emotions. The way they clip me, I feel like I should be fake happy all the time.”

On TV, commentators like Lindsay Davenport (who came back after having her own baby) empathized but kept it real: “Maybe it’s time for her to step back and figure out why she’s playing, why these close matches aren’t going her way. Maybe bring her daughter on tour, try a different coach—something’s gotta give.”