Naomi Osaka was nearly left in tears by a ‘devastating’ question in her press conference after losing to Amanda Anisimova at the US Open. The two-time champion was denied a place in this year’s final with her opponent coming from behind to win 6-7 7-6 6-3. It saw Anisimova reach her second successive Grand Slam final, having finished as the Wimbledon runner-up earlier this year.
Osaka was visibly disappointed after surrendering her early lead and slumping to defeat at the penultimate hurdle. Throughout the US Open, she has been showing off her collection of custom-made Labubu dolls, each with a different name. She was quizzed on the viral plush toy after the match against Anisimova but it almost became too much for the 27-year-old to bear.
Given that she had brought a different Labubu to each match, Osaka was asked: “What would’ve been the next Labubu?” She replied: “Don’t make me cry, man. The most devastating question.
“So I literally just talked about this, but I wanted to make one of myself in my last year outfit, the green one. It would have had the bow and I’m sick about it. Oh my God, that’s like the worst thing. Honestly, I’m fine losing, but don’t ask me about this Labubu.”
Despite admitting to being on the verge of tears in her press conference, Osaka insisted that she was not too disappointed after bowing out in the semi-finals.
“I mean, honestly I don’t feel sad, it’s really weird,” she said. “Well, it’s not weird, because I just feel like I did the best that I could.
“Honestly, it’s kind of inspiring for me, because it makes me just want to train and try to get better and hopefully just give it my very best shot again and see what happens. But I think I can’t be mad or upset at myself.”
Asked if she was surprised by Anisimova’s battling performance, Osaka responded: “I wouldn’t say it’s a bigger challenge than I expected, because I kind of knew that she’s that type of player.
“It was just kind of funny at times, because there is no pattern to what she’s doing. It´s kind of like she just hits at the empty court or whatever, and it usually goes in.
“Obviously she went to the finals of Wimbledon, and now she’s in the finals here, so it just shows that she’s a really good player.”
Anisimova will go up against Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the US Open on Saturday night. She will be hoping to make amends for her chastening defeat to Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon back in July.
She already gained revenge over the Pole by beating her in straight sets in the quarter-finals, putting in a much better performance than she did at SW19.
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