Naomi Osaka has hit back at the media following her third-round exit from Wimbledon 2025. She took to social media to express her frustration with how outlets portray her after losses.
The 27-year-old Japanese tennis star claimed that ESPN and other sports blogs consistently highlight her emotional moments after defeats while ignoring her positive press conferences following victories.
Osaka’s comments came hours after her 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on July 4, 2025, which ended her run at the All England Club. The former world No. 1 reached the third round at Wimbledon for the first time since 2018.
In an emotional post-match press conference, Osaka admitted she had “nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I’m working on,” and described herself as “a negative human being.”
Naomi Osaka Slams Media Coverage for Pushing Her Losses
The Japanese’s Instagram Threads post directly questioned ESPN and other media outlets for their selective coverage of her press conferences. “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. Wtf, why don’t they clip my press conferences after I win? Like why push the narrative that I’m always sad?” Osaka wrote.
Her frustration stems from years of media coverage around her mental health struggles, which became public during her withdrawal from the 2021 French Open. Since then, Osaka has been open about her battles with depression and anxiety.
Osaka added context to her feelings by another thread: “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.”
Naomi Osaka’s Ongoing Comeback Journey
Osaka’s media criticism comes during a challenging period in her tennis career. The mother of two-year-old daughter Shai returned to professional tennis in January 2024 after a 15-month maternity break. Since her comeback, she has struggled to recapture the form that made her a four-time Grand Slam champion between 2018 and 2021.
Her current world ranking of 53 represents a significant drop from her peak position of No. 1, which she first achieved in 2019. Despite showing flashes of her former brilliance, Osaka has not won a tour-level title since her 2021 Australian Open triumph and has not advanced past the third round of a Grand Slam since returning from maternity leave.
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The Wimbledon loss to Pavlyuchenkova was particularly painful for Osaka, who felt she had a genuine chance to make a deep run in the tournament. “I think it’s ’cause I actually thought I could play well, like, in general, and make a deep run here,” she explained in her press conference.
Her disappointment was compounded by the fact that she had finally overcome her previous fears about playing on grass courts.
