Naomi Osaka lost her first-round match at the 2022 Roland Garros to Amanda Anisimova, and after the loss, she admitted that she played through an injury.
Osaka sustained a leg injury in Madrid, and despite skipping the Italian Open in Rome, there was simply not enough time for her to fully heal before the clay-court Grand Slam in Paris.
The Japanese player lost in the opening round of the tournament to Amanda Anisimova, who bested her 7-5, 6-4. Osaka admitted after the match that she took a painkiller for the pain but did not blame the injury for the loss.
"I took a painkiller before my match. I still kind of felt it a little, which I'm going to see what happens when it wears off. I prepared myself to feel it, so that wasn't really the wearing part."
"It was just annoying to me because the last time I played her, our serves were really important. And coming into this tournament I didn't serve a lot, because we wanted to wait until last minute to protect my Achilles."
Osaka also wanted to point to the reasons for the loss, but she didn't want to blame the injury for it. According to the former World No. 1 player, she lost because she played only two clay-court matches before the Roland Garros, which meant she wasn't sufficiently prepared.
"The difference was, for me, match play. I only played two matches on clay this year. I wish I could have played more. Like, I stayed in Europe for longer to be able to prepare for this tournament."
"So it is a bit disappointing, but I'm happy with how my attitude was, because the last match that we played in Australia I was getting a bit more upset with myself. So I think I progressed in that part."