Author: Andrew Demp
AP Sports Writer
Naomi Osaka’s Instagram post on July 23
Tokyo (Associated Press)-this is not Naomi Osaka-nor her many fans in Japan and around the world-the desired ending.
However, the opening of the Tokyo Olympics will always be a fond memory of the tennis superstar.
Osaka himself said after lighting the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony last week, “There is no doubt that this is the greatest sports achievement and honor of my life.”
So maybe—just maybe—this will enable Osaka to deal with her accidental loss to former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in the third round of the Olympic Tennis Championships on July 27, 6-1, 6-4.
But not right away.
“I am disappointed with every loss, but I feel that this time I lost worse than the others,” Osaka said.
As a four-time Grand Slam champion, the world’s highest paid female athlete, and the host country’s Olympic poster girl, huge expectations are unbearable.
“I definitely feel that I have been under a lot of pressure for this,” Osaka said. “I think this may be because I haven’t participated in the Olympics before, and the first year (it) was a bit too much.
Earlier this week, Osaka talked about how “happy” she was to participate in the competition again. After she announced her participation in the French Open in May, she would not talk to reporters during that game, saying that these interactions caused her doubts.
Then, after she won the first round in Paris, she skipped the mandatory press conference.
Osaka was fined $15,000 and was unexpectedly publicly condemned by the head of the Grand Slam tournament, who said that if she kept avoiding the media, she might be suspended.
The next day, Osaka completely withdrew from the French Open to take a mental health break, which showed that she had dealt with depression and anxiety.
She also did not participate in Wimbledon. So the Tokyo Olympics marked her return to the game.
“I took a long break before, and I managed to do a good job,” Osaka said. She didn’t comment initially after losing and then came back to meet with a small group of reporters. “I’m not saying that I’m not doing well now, but I know my expectations are much higher.
“I think my attitude is not very good, because I really don’t know how to deal with this kind of pressure, so this is the best thing I can do in this situation.”
Regardless of the final result on the court, Osaka became the first tennis player to ignite the Olympic flame last week, and she has become part of the history of the Olympic Games. She is also one of the few active athletes to win this honor. Australian sprinter Cathy Freeman ignited the cauldron for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and won the gold medal in the 400m race.
This is a choice that the whole world can appreciate: in Japan, of course, it is the country where Osaka was born and the country where she works; in the embattled Haiti, because that is her father’s hometown; it must be in the United States, because it has the highest income in the world Where the female athletes live is also where she speaks bluntly about racial injustice.
Also, somewhere in between, because Osaka is a superstar.
However, due to her ethnicity, she was often uncomfortably welcomed in Japan. When she was 3 years old, she moved to the United States with her family. She became a top tennis player and challenged the public’s attitude towards identity in the same culture, which is being pushed to change.
Osaka wrote on Instagram a photo of her smiling while holding a flame. “I can’t use words to describe how I feel now, but I know I am full of gratitude and gratitude now.”
