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Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka had a rough first round at the French Open on Monday.
Osaka entered Roland Garros wearing an all-pink kit inspired by “Sakura,” or cherry blossoms. She had issues almost immediately as she was forced to clip her nails in the middle of the match against 10th-seeded Paula Badosa. She had 54 unforced errors.
Badosa won the match 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-4 over Osaka. The Japanese superstar was upset following the defeat.
“As time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better,” she said. “But also — I kind of talked about this before, maybe a couple years ago, or maybe recently, I’m not sure — I hate disappointing people.”
She also expressed a feeling of regret for letting down her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who previously worked with the likes of Serena Williams.
“He goes from working with, like, the greatest player ever to, like, ‘What the f— is this?’ You know what I mean?” she said. “Sorry for cursing. I hope I don’t get fined.”
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Osaka also dealt with blisters on her hands as she clipped her nails. She theorized it was the clay courts that were giving her the issue.
“Since Rome, I have had blisters on my hands,” she said, via Tennis.com. “I think it’s like from the friction of clay, because I don’t have blisters on any other surface. But I was kind of used to it, because I also had to ask for the physio in Rome.”
Osaka was a previous world No. 1 as she dominated the 2018 U.S. Open and won the 2019 Australian Open right after. She did it again in 2020 when she won the U.S. Open and followed up with a victory at the 2021 Australian Open.
It is the French Open and Wimbledon that have always given Osaka trouble.
She has never made it out of the third round at the French Open.
Osaka did not commit one way or the other to the grind leading up to Wimbledon.
“I don’t necessarily know my grass-season schedule right now,” Osaka said. “I wasn’t really expecting to lose in the first round.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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