Google News Naomi Osaka: "I'm ungrateful for hitting a ball when in Afghanistan..."
by LORENZO CIOTTI | VIEW 5934
Naomi Osaka beat Cori Gauff in the second round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in straight sets, despite the young Japanese star losing the first set. Naomi had been proven by the excessive pressure linked to her results, and by those interviews that caused her suffering and tears.
She said she felt ungrateful for not fully appreciating what was happening to her and the fact that she was one of the strongest and most popular athletes in the world. In the meanwhile, in the third round of the North American tournament on hard-courts, Osaka will meet the Swiss player Jil Teichmann.
But after winning against Gauff in Cincinnati, Naomi said: "I've had a weird year, many of you know what I've been through. I feel like I've changed my way of thinking, even when I lose I feel like I've won, seeing that. what happens in the world.
I read the news and realize that even just waking up in the morning is a success.
Naomi Osaka: "I'm ungrateful for hitting a ball when in Afghanistan..."
I was scared, I saw the titles about the players who were losing and who the next day were seen as protagonists of a collapse and not great.
The choice to play , to meet the fans who see me play is already an achievement. I don't know when I started not to like this, but I felt ungrateful. Seeing what happens, like in Haiti (she decided to donate her Masters salary to the people devastated by the earthquake, ed) or in Afghanistan, it's crazy.
Instead I just have to hit a tennis ball in the United States, and have people watching me play. I would like to be myself in this situation rather than closed. nothing else in the world." Naomi, after winning the Australian Open 2021, took part in the Roland Garros, where she overtook Patricia Maria Tig with a score of 6-4 7-6, but later, due to the pressure received from the organizers and the possible disqualification from the tournament due to upon the decision to cancel the press conferences, Naomi decided to retire before the second round match, which saw her opposed to Ana Bogdan.
In addition, the multiple Grand Slam champion was fined $ 15,000. She communicated her retirement di lei, with the return to the field at a later date, through the various social media. Osaka came back on the court in July at the Tokyo Olympics, where she was also the torchbearer who lit the Olympic brazier.
On that occasion she won in the first round against Zheng Saisai 6-1 6-4 and then against Viktorija Golubic 6-3 6-2. In the third round, however, she was defeated by Marketa Vondrousov for 1-6 4-6.
