Naomi Osaka Issues Apology After Wimbledon Loss

Naomi Osaka Issues Apology After Wimbledon Loss originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The grand slam drought for former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka continued on Friday.

With a chance to advance past the third round of a grand slam for the first time since her 2021 Australian Open victory, Osaka fell to the world’s No. 50 player, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, at Wimbledon.

Pavlyuchenkova was able to take down Osaka 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, allowing her to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in nine years.

Understandably, Osaka took the loss quite hard, and when speaking with the media afterward, she revealed just how disappointed she was with her performance.

“I’m just gonna be a negative human being today,” Osaka said. “I’m so sorry. Like, I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I’m working on. I think…I mean it was my daughter’s birthday so I was happy about that this week. But, other than that…It’s just today. I’m just constantly replaying the match.”

While much of the crowd was pulling for Osaka, Pavlyuchenkova revealed to NBC after the match that she enjoyed that aspect, and that the crowd being against her motivated her more.

“A majority of you were cheering for Naomi, but that’s OK,” Pavlyuchenkova said via NBC. “I’m mentally tough, so that didn’t bother me at all. The opposite. It gave me energy.”

Although she wasn’t feeling too positive on Friday, Osaka revealed she is looking forward to playing on hard courts next.

“I’m glad to be done with this,” Osaka said, “and I’m looking forward to the hard courts.”

Certainly a tough loss to swallow, but one that can be a learning moment for the 27-year-old.

Related: Wimbledon Video Showing Trinity Rodman Staring at Boyfriend Ben Shelton Goes Viral

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 4, 2025, where it first appeared.