Felix
Naomi Osaka, a four-time grand slam winner, fell 7-5 6-4 to Amanda Anisimova in the first round of the French Open on Monday.
Naomi Osaka knocked out of the French Open was an unexpected turnout for the first round of the tournament. She was expected to reach the deeper matches of the tournament, but luck didn’t work out in her favor and the former top-ranked player was ousted from the tournament.
Last season, Osaka took two mental health breaks. One of them started when she pulled out of her second-round match at the French Open. She revealed after her loss on Monday that she is considering skipping Wimbledon for the second time because of a decision that would affect players’ rankings.
Anisimova, a 20-year-old American, made the semifinals of the 2019 French Open. In the third round of the Australian Open in January, she also defeated Osaka.
How was Naomi Osaka knocked out
Anisimova took the lead when she broke Osaka at 5-5 in the first set and went on to win in 48 minutes, while in the second set, she broke at 3-3 and twice held service to seal the victory.
“When you see Naomi Osaka in the first round, you don’t think it’s going to be easy,” Anisimova said in her on-court interview after the game.”It was a very tough match. I was going out there and I knew I had to play good tennis … I’m just very happy to be back here and through the first round.“
Once in each set, Osaka double-failed on break point. Osaka grabbed a 40-0 lead in the next game after the second, giving Anisimova a 4-3 advantage, but the American held on.
Osaka used tape on her left Achilles heel to continue playing. In the seventh game of the second set, she was breaking it while extending it and kicking it with her right foot. This acted as a significant setback in Osaka trying to make a comeback.
“Honestly, I didn’t feel my Achilles until the second set, I would say,” Osaka said, according to RolandGarros.com. “So in the first set, I was totally fine. I think the serve issue was just down to playing a really good returner and kind of being a bit shaken by what she could possibly do. So I was trying to maybe go for too much, more than usual.“
After defeating the Japanese Tennis star, Amanda Anisimova is set to face Donna Vekic of Croatia. Vekic defeated Mirjam Bjorklund of Sweden in her first-round match at Roland Garros on Sunday.
