After a heartbreaking exit from the French Open, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka has started vigorous training on the grass courts in Berlin. Osaka experienced one of the biggest disappointments of her 2025 season during last month’s clay court Grand Slam event.
Naomi Osaka Begins Practice for Berlin After 1R Exit From 2025 French Open
On Monday, May 26, at the 2025 French Open, Osaka faced 10th seed Paula Badosa in the first round. Playing on the Philippe Chatrier court, the former World No. 1 put up a strong fight against the Spaniard. But after a hard-fought match that lasted two hours and twenty minutes, she ultimately bowed out.
Osaka edged out the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-6(1), but it wasn’t enough in the end as she fell to Badosa in the next two sets, 1-6, 4-6.
Two weeks later, on Saturday, Jun. 14, Osaka was spotted practicing on the grass courts for the 2025 Berlin Tennis Open by Hylo, set to begin on June 16. The four-time major champion appeared in a video shared by an Instagram handle, with the caption:
“Naomi Osaka striking today at @berlintennisopen”
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Last year, the Japanese player made an early exit from the WTA 500 grass-court tournament after a hard-fought three-set battle against China’s Zheng Qinwen, falling 4-6, 6-3, 3-6.
Naomi Osaka Breaks Down in Tears After Heartbreaking French Open Loss
After a major loss in Paris, Osaka struggled to hold back tears during her post-match press conference. The 27-year-old broke down while speaking about her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, whom she has been working with since September of last year. The emotional moment came after her shocking first-round exit from this year’s Roland Garros.
During the press conference, Osaka expressed that she felt like a disappointment to coach Mouratoglou, especially when comparing herself to his most successful period coaching tennis legend Serena Williams. From 2012 to 2022, Mouratoglou and Williams achieved remarkable success together, winning around 10 Grand Slam titles, an Olympic Gold Medal in 2012, and completing a career Golden Slam.
Reflecting on this, Osaka said:
“I think as time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better, but also, I kind of talked about this before. Maybe a couple of years ago, or maybe recently, I am not sure, but I hate disappointing people. So even with Patrick, I was thinking, he goes from working with like the greatest player ever, to what the fu*k is this. You know what I mean? Sorry for cursing, I hope that I don’t get a fine but…”
After candidly admitting to being self-critical, Osaka briefly stepped away from the press conference. However, she later returned to respond to more questions and spoke about the self-realisation she experienced following her match against Badosa.
