After being eradicated from the primary Grand Slam of the 2022 tennis season, Naomi Osaka informed reporters that, whereas not devastated by the loss, she can be taking a break from social media to keep away from the blowback.
Osaka made headlines for bowing out of the Melbourne Summer season Set 1 after profitable her semi-finals match earlier this month. Her tweet asserting her withdrawal was met by criticism from tennis followers who referred to as her weak and implied that she’s solely fascinated with profitable grand slams, not the smaller tournaments that normally precede them.
Now, following her elimination from the third spherical of the Australian Open on Friday, Osaka informed reporters that she will probably be taking a break from social media, Insider reviews.
“The very first thing that I’ll most likely do after I have a look at my telephone is delete Instagram and Twitter,” she mentioned, “after which I most likely gained’t redownload it for a few weeks.”
Nevertheless, the previous No. 1 participant, who was the top-earning feminine athlete of 2021, made it clear that the loss itself was not a problem for her.
“I imply to me it’s at all times a tennis match, you understand what I imply? I really feel like the skin stuff comes after,” she defined. “To me it’s thrilling. Not the loss itself, however, just like the individual I misplaced to, as a result of it’s like exhibiting the expansion of tennis. I really feel like now I’m on this place the place if I lose to somebody, it would make a headline, however I additionally assume it type of grows extra superstars, and I really feel like that’s good for the sport.”
On this occasion, the participant who stopped Osaka’s try to defend her Australian Open title was unseeded American participant Amanda Anisimova, whose win at Melbourne Summer season Set 1 marked solely her second Girls’s Tennis Affiliation title.
The loss has knocked Osaka from a WTA rating of No. 14 to No. 84, her lowest rating since August 2016.
