Former world No.1 Naomi Osaka steps out of emotional press conference after first-round defeat at French Open

Naomi Osaka still wore the pink accessories in her hair inspired by “sakura” — cherry blossoms — and there were already tear streaks on her cheeks when she sat down after her first-round loss to Paula Badosa on Monday.

Osaka’s red eyes welled as she answered a few questions in the post-match press conference before needing a break and briefly leaving the interview room following the 6-7 (1-7) 6-1 6-4 defeat.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Naomi Osaka takes moment in emotional presser after French Open defeat.

“As time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better,” the four-time grand slam winner and former world No.1 said.

“But also — I kind of talked about this before, maybe a couple years ago, or maybe recently, I’m not sure — I hate disappointing people.”

Then, referring to her current coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who used to work with her idol Serena Williams, Osaka was even more emotional.

“He goes from working with, like, the greatest player ever to, like, ‘What the (expletive) is this?’ You know what I mean? Sorry for cursing, I hope I don’t get fined,” she said.

Osaka left the room briefly and returned to a question about how the loss could make her stronger.

“I hope you can tell me that,” she said.

Osaka then fielded one query from a Japanese journalist with an eye to the next major tournament, Wimbledon, which begins on grass on June 30.

“I don’t necessarily know my grass-season schedule right now,” Osaka said.

“I wasn’t really expecting to lose in the first round (in Paris).”

Badosa shared kind words to Osaka in her post-match press conference.

“First set was very high level. She won. The third set was a very, very high level. It went my side,” Badosa said.

“I have to be honest, it’s not fair to have a first round like this.

“For her in this case, she lost, because she’s playing very good tennis. Well, very, very soon she’s going to be where she wants to be, for sure.”

Osaka, who has never been past the third round at Roland Garros, was undone by 54 unforced errors against her Spanish opponent.

That was twice as many as Badosa, whose best showing at a major was a semi-final run at the Australian Open in January and who reached the quarter-finals at Roland-Garros in 2021.

After taking the opening set, Osaka was treated by a trainer for hand blisters and also took time to clip her sakura-themed fingernails on the sideline.

She attributed the blisters, which also bothered her at the Italian Open this month, to “the friction of clay, because I don’t have blisters on any other surface”.

Osaka’s powerful serves and groundstrokes are dulled by the clay, and that showed against Badosa. Osaka was broken five times and finished with nearly as many double-faults, five, as aces, seven.

Once ranked No. 1 and currently No. 49, Osaka withdrew from the French Open in 2021 before her second-round match, explaining that she experiences “huge waves of anxiety” before speaking to the media and revealing she had dealt with depression.

She then took multiple mental health breaks away from the tour.

She helped usher in a change in the way athletes, sports fans and society at large understood the importance of mental health.

A year ago at Roland Garros, Osaka played one of her best matches since returning to action after becoming a mother, coming within a point of upsetting eventual tournament champion Iga Swiatek.

- with 7NEWS