“With age, fear kind of crept [in and] paralyzed me in a way. Now, I’m…getting over that and trying to spread my wings on grass.” It hasn’t even been 48 hours since Naomi Osaka had beamed while on the edge of glory. Stakes and hopes were high. But so was the possibility for heartbreak as the world held its breath to see the Japanese phenom rise after her second-round exit vs Emma Navarro at the All England Club last year.

But, for Osaka, “All’s well that ends well,” was not a phrase she was able to use this time around either. Her journey at Wimbledon reached a premature end in the third round when Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova made a tough comeback, winning 3–6, 6–4, 6–4. Osaka kicked things off on a high note, taking the first set 6–3 and looking like she was getting back to her usual powerful form after a string of underwhelming performances this season, including a first-round exit against Paula Badosa at the French Open.

In a back-and-forth final set, a late double fault and some unforced errors allowed Pavlyuchenkova to take the win, dashing Osaka’s chances of making it to her first fourth round at Wimbledon since 2018. But it wasn’t just the loss that got people talking—it was everything that came after as Osaka quickly headed over to the press zone. Journalist Ben Rothenberg took to X shortly after the game ended, pointing out a trend he’s seen happen time and again. “Naomi Osaka already rushed into press quickly after a loss, which never goes well for her up there,” he wrote. Quite expectedly, the 27-year-old didn’t shy away from expressing her feelings.

“I’m just going to be a negative human being today. I’m so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself. Honestly, right now I’m just really upset,” she began. “I actually thought I could play well. Not saying I didn’t play well, but… make a deep run here. Clearly, I need to work on a couple of things,” she further said—her voice laced with frustration.

“I feel like while I still have the opportunity to try to do it, I want to. Even though I get very upset when I lose… but I think that’s my competitive nature. That’s also the younger sister syndrome…No person wants to feel this way, like, multiple times throughout the year, but tennis players are crazy…I’m glad to be done with this, and I’m looking forward to the hard courts,” the player concluded with a sad smile.

Notably, this is not the first time that the superstar has opened up emotionally after losses. In May this year, after her first-round French Open exit, Osaka took a moment during the press session, clearly emotional and in tears. She shared her feelings, saying, “I hate disappointing people. Even with (coach) Patrick, I was thinking just now, he goes from working with, like, the greatest player ever to, like, ‘What the f*** is this?’ Sorry for cursing. I hope I don’t get fined.”

Even in August 2021, after an upset against Jil Teichmann in the third round of the Cincinnati Open, Osaka seemed clearly upset after facing a tough question about how she juggles her media obligations with her endorsement deals. She started to reply but stopped, wiping away her tears before stepping out for a few minutes. “Sorry for walking out,” the two-time US Open winner had remarked after she came back.

But this leads to one question:

What’s up with Naomi Osaka and grass courts?

This is Naomi Osaka’s kryptonite

Naomi Osaka has always been candid about her struggles and aspirations on grass courts, often talking about how challenging that surface can be. Back in 2019, at Wimbledon Media Day, she mentioned, “If you ask me right now, I would say for me grass is the hardest surface to learn because I’ve played on clay, despite the fact that it was green clay when I was little.”

Osaka also talked about how she didn’t have much experience playing on grass until she was about 16 or 17. “Every day I learn something while I play here. You only technically play on grass for three weeks out of the year, opposed to the clay season. I just feel like my brain has to work way harder every day than the clay season,” the Japanese tennis star shared. It also didn’t help that she had a bit of a mental block after slipping on grass and injuring her knee years ago.

But even as she overcame that fear of grass, Osaka’s grass troubles continued, with the 27-year-old losing 3 out of her last 4 matches at the All England Club. In 2017 and 2018, too, Osaka reached the third round, but she didn’t advance beyond that.

Nevertheless, with the US Open next to come, maybe a return to hard courts will indeed do her good.