Four-time major winner Naomi Osaka said she “hates disappointing people” after she lost to Spain’s Paula Badosa in the first round of the French Open.
Japan’s Osaka, 27, won her first title in almost two years earlier this month following a maternity break in 2023.
Against Badosa she saved a set point before dominating the first-set tie-break, but the Spanish 10th seed showed resilience to fight back and win 6-7 (1-7) 6-1 6-4.
Osaka briefly left her news conference to compose herself after becoming upset.
“As time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better. I hate disappointing people,” said an emotional Osaka, who is working with Patrick Mouratoglou – the long-time coach to Serena Williams.
“So even with Patrick, I was thinking this just now, but he goes from working with the greatest player ever to…this? You know what I mean?”
The four-time Grand Slam champion has not gone past the third round of a major since her return to the WTA Tour after the birth of her daughter Shai in July 2023.
She called a medical timeout after the end of the first set against Badosa as she struggled with blisters on her fingers during the match.
“Since Rome, I have had blisters on my hands. I think it’s from the friction of clay, because I don’t have blisters on any other surface,” Osaka said.
Ninth seed Navarro suffers 6-0 6-1 upset
Earlier on Monday, ninth seed Emma Navarro exited the tournament after just 57 minutes as she suffered a 6-0 6-1 thrashing by Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
Navarro, a semi-finalist at last year’s US Open, did not hold serve all match in a wayward performance on the second day in Paris.
Up 6-0 5-0, Bouzas Maneiro was attempting to become the first woman to beat a top-10 player 6-0 6-0 at a Grand Slam since the 1989 US Open, when Martina Navratilova crushed world number seven Manuela Maleeva.
But Navarro got on the board and avoided a ‘double bagel’ scoreline with help from a double fault by the 68th-ranked Bouzas Maneiro.
Earlier this year, Navarro became only the fifth player this century to win a WTA final 6-0 6-0 with victory over Emiliana Arango at the Merida Open in Mexico.
But the American was broken seven times, claimed just 30 of the 86 total points and won only 44% of her first-serve points.
Navarro was also hindered by 23 unforced errors compared to just four winners.
Garcia bids emotional farewell to Paris
Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia’s final French Open singles appearance ended in the first round as the former world number four lost 6-4 6-4 to American Bernarda Pera.
An emotional Garcia, 31, shed a tear as she waited to walk out on to Court Suzanne Lenglen for her 15th and final appearance in the women’s singles at Roland Garros.
Having made her debut in 2011, her best result at her home Slam was a quarter-final showing in 2017.
“Stress and the desire to do well have often gotten in my way, especially here at Roland Garros, where I experienced some difficult moments,” Garcia said on court.
“I’ve always tried to give my all, and I’ve always dreamed of winning this singles tournament.
“Unfortunately, I never achieved it, but all these moments shared with you will remain etched in my memory forever.”
Elsewhere, three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek also advanced to set up a meeting with Britain’s Emma Raducanu.
Australian Open winner and seventh seed Madison Keys dropped just three games as she cruised past qualifier Daria Saville in 58 minutes in a 6-2 6-1 victory.
Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, seeded 12th, overcame a second-set wobble to beat Argentine qualifier Julia Riera 6-1 4-6 6-4.
Daria Kasatkina claimed her first Grand Slam match win as an Australian, after switching allegiance from Russia, with a 6-1 3-6 6-3 win against Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic.
Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova claimed her first win of 2025 by beating Tatjana Maria 7-6 (7-4) 6-3, while 22nd seed Jelena Ostapenko fought back to win 5-7 6-0 6-2 against Russian Polina Kudermetova.
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