"I took a painkiller before the match" - Osaka after losing to Anisimova at Roland Garros

| by Drew Tate

Naomi Osaka lost her first-round Roland Garros match to Amanda Anisimova and she admitted that she played with an injury.

Osaka sustained a leg injury in Madrid and despite skipping over Rome, there was simply not enough time for her to get right. 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."

"My potential to beat people is same on clay" claims Fritz following win in Paris
"My potential to beat people is same on clay" claims Fritz following win in Paris

Citing the reason for her loss, she said:

"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."

Osaka also explained she might skip over Wimbledon due to the injury and the points stripping citing the rankings as a key motivator for her. She did say she wanted to play but is unsure whether she will.

Read the full article

Just in

Look at more articles