The defending champion, Naomi Osaka, is out of the Australian Open. The 13th seed lost to USA’s Amanda Anisimova in the third round of the opening Grand Slam of the year. However, the Japanese star showed a strong character during the post-match press conference.

The 2-time Australian Open champion spoke about the positives of her performance. She explained her feelings, saying she was happy that she fought for all the points and that she can’t expect to win the Australian Open every year. She also spoke about how this match was different from last year’s US Open third round.

Naomi Osaka was positive after her 3rd round exit

Though a sense of sadness was visible on Naomi’s face, it was the positivity in the answers that caught fans’ attention.

Responding to a journalist, Osaka expressed her feelings, saying, “I fought for every point. I can’t be sad about that. I’m not God. I can’t win every match. I just have to take that into account and know that it would be nice to win the tournament but that’s really special. I can’t win the Grand Slam at the start of the year every time.”

Last year’s US Open saw Osaka being beaten by Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the third round. In the post-match press conference back then, she claimed she was disappointed with her performance. 

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However, the Japanese number one, in today’s press conference, told the media how was this defeat was different from the one in New York last year. She said, “I feel like I grew a lot in this match. The last match that I played in New York, I think I had a completely different attitude, so I’m really happy with — you know, of course I lost, but I’m happy with how it went.” 

Osaka ended the conference by saying that she can’t look into the past anymore. Instead, she just has to focus on what she can do in the future.

How did Osaka vs Anisimova unfold? 

Naomi Osaka started the match strongly, breaking Anisimova in her first service game. Osaka held her serve in the next game and took a 2-0 lead in the first set. With her heavy strokes in place, Osaka capitalized on her lead, winning the first set, 6-4. 

However, Amanda Anisimova made a comeback in the 2nd set. Breaking Osaka in her second service game, Amanda cruised past the Japanese with ease. Hitting 15 winners, the American took the second set 6-3, taking the match to a decider set. 

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The third set saw both the players lift their game and take the set to 6-6. The match now stood at a Super Tie-Breaker with both the players aiming to score 10 points first. It was Anisimova who took control of the super tie-break from the start, and finally, went on to win 10-5.