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

With the Australian Open coming up in only just over a month, Naomi Osaka has discussed the effects of winning it personally.

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."

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