Naomi Osaka couldn’t hold back her emotions after facing a disappointing defeat against Paula Badosa at the 2025 French Open. The 27-year-old spoke about learning from her defeats in Madrid and Rome during her post-match press conference at the clay Major.
Naomi Osaka Suffered An Early Exit At French Open 2025
Naomi Osaka welcomed her first daughter, Shai, in July 2023 and returned to professional tennis at the Brisbane International in January 2024. Amid the long maternity break, her WTA ranking dropped, reaching as low as No. 439. Since then, the Japanese player has been looking for a resurgence in her form. She also underwent a significant coaching change, adding Patrick Mouratoglou to her team.
Osaka produced some promising performances on clay, most notably reaching the fourth round at the Italian Open. However, she suffered a 7-6 (1), 1-6, 4-6 defeat at the hands of Paula Badosa at the French Open. During her post-match press conference, the former World No. 1 was asked if the unexpected loss would make her stronger. With an emotional note in her voice, the 27-year-old responded:
“I hope you can tell me that! I’m not sure, I feel like I learn little things from each match. I think I lost the tiebreaker in Rome and I didn’t lose the tiebreaker here. I mean, I am conscious of things when I’m playing so maybe the next match I play, I’ll learn little things from today.”
The emotional admission drew several reactions of sympathy and support from the fans. Taking to the social media platform X, a fan expressed sadness over the emotional scenes surrounding Osaka.
“So sad to see her like this. At all level players want to do well for themselves but also for the people around them. Don’t see this has a weakness !!”
So sad to see her like this. At all level players want to do well for themselves but also for the people around them. Don’t see this has a weakness !! ♥️ https://t.co/kbUH8LU4vs
— Séverine Tamborero Performance Coaching (@coachsevi)
Another fan extended a sympathetic message for Osaka, being optimistic about her rise in rankings with new hopes for the upcoming grass court season.
“Naomi u will get higher in the rankings and will not face players like Badosa on first round! Grass season is coming and preparing just as u did for clay with your aggressive gamestyle it will be good, u already achieved a lot of things u are an amazing human and player,” the fan’s comment read.
Naomi u will get higher in the rankings and will not face players like Badosa on first round! Grass season is coming and preparing just as u did for clay with your agressive gamestyle it will be good, u already achieved a lot of things u are an amazing human and player 🫶🫶🫶 https://t.co/TzKAZMesBM
— GRASSOMI ERA 🥹♥️ (@JeronimoPi15122) May 26, 2025
Another fan simply mentioned how facing Paula Badosa in the opening round was an unexpected draw for Naomi Osaka, stating:
“Facing Badosa in round 1 was a very bad draw for her. She will be back. She’s up there!”
Facing Badosa in round 1 was a very bad draw for her.
She will be back. She’s up there! https://t.co/o5NFbzBcut
— big smoke (@onetakeBS)
After beating Osaka, Paula Badosa will take on Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the second round of the French Open on May 28.
Naomi Osaka On “Disappointing People” After French Open Exit
After her loss to Paula Badosa, Naomi Osaka also spoke about disappointing people, singling out Patrick Mouratoglou, who previously coached Serena Williams.
“As time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better. I hate disappointing people. So even with Patrick, I was thinking this just now, but he goes from working with the greatest player ever to…this? You know what I mean?” she said, as quoted by BBC News.
Naomi Osaka now has 12 wins out of 19 tour-level matches so far in the 2025 season, having reached the final at the ASB Classic and the fourth round in Miami and Rome.
