Naomi Osaka reveals debilitating injury after tearful French Open exit as she hints at tennis break
Naomi Osaka has shown off a painful injury following her emotional French Open exit - as she teased a possible break from tennis.
Osaka teared up on Monday after losing to Paula Badosa, and briefly left her post-match press conference while welling up.
And the loss also took a physical toll on Osaka as she shared a gruesome photo of her heavily blistered fingers to her Instagram story.
Osaka shared a close-up picture of several deep blisters, and said she could not 'bend these fingers all the way lol.'
However, she took on a more somber tone in a subsequent post, as she suggested she could step away from the sport.
She wrote on her Instagram story, over a picture of an athletic field: 'Me: 'I'm sick of this I'm gonna take a break for a while.
She then added: 'Me a day after my match because I have anxiety if I don't work out,' as she showed herself with running shoes on.
The soft-spoken Osaka, who has not made it past the third round of a Slam since she won the Aussie Open in 2021, got emotional after her first round loss at Roland-Garros.
'I hate disappointing people,' she said. 'Even with [her coach] Patrick [Mouratoglou], I was thinking just now - he goes from working with like the greatest player ever [Serena Williams] to like, what the f*** this is,' she said.
Osaka was also asked if it was getting harder to deal with losing, to which she softly replied 'yes' before expanding on her answer.
'I think she was probably more aggressive or something,' Osaka said of Badosa. 'I feel like that's a mistake I've made the last two matches.
Osaka has previously opened up on her struggles with depression and anxiety, and dropped out of the 2021 French Open after the first round to focus on her mental health.
She also skipped Wimbledon that summer, before missing the entire 2023 season on maternity leave.
Ultimately, she's struggled to return to her best since lifting the Aussie Open in 2021, which was her fourth Slam.
Last year, she exited the Aussie Open in the first round before losing in the second round of the French Open, US Open and Wimbledon.
She reached the third round in Melbourne earlier this year before her first-round exit at Roland-Garros this week.
Osaka has shown glimpses of her talent, as she beat Jelena Ostapenko at last year's US Open to earn her first top-10 win in more than four years.
She also earned an impressive win over two-time US Open semifinalist Karolina Muchova at this year's Aussie Open, and played out a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 loss to Jasmine Paolini at the Miami Open.
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