Osaka discusses effects of winning second Grand Slam at Australian Open: 'I started feeling different'

Osaka said that she started to feel different and that she would pay attention more to her losses and that they were harder to get over as a result.

The Japanese ace said also that as a result of those, she started to question her ability which had never happened before.

"When I won the 2018 U.S. Open, a lot of people asked me, “How has your life changed in one year?” I didn’t feel like anything changed.

But after I won the 2019 Australian Open, I started feeling different. If I lost a match, it became news everywhere, and I would pay more attention to my losses. They were harder to get over. Sometimes, I got depressed during practices and (felt) like there were a lot of expectations on me.

I started to question my ability, which I had never really done before. I have a tendency to shut down in those moments. It’s hard to keep having fun playing tennis."