(NEW YORK) — Naomi Osaka is opening up after her loss at the Cincinnati Open on Monday.
The four-time Grand Slam singles champion failed to make the main draw in Cincinnati after losing in a qualifying match against Ashlyn Krueger. On Sunday, she won her opening match in the qualifying tournament against Anna Blinkova.
On Tuesday, Osaka took to Instagram to reflect on the loss and said that what she’s feeling is similar to “being postpartum.”
“In a weird way I’ve come to appreciate losses, you don’t play tennis for 20+ years without your fair share of them,” Osaka began. “You learn from a loss and then eagerly await your next opportunity to put what you learned to test.”
“My biggest issue currently isn’t losses though, my biggest issue is that I don’t feel like I’m in my body,” she continued. “It’s a strange feeling, missing balls I shouldn’t miss, hitting balls softer than I remember I used to. I try and tell myself ‘it’s fine you’re doing great, just get through this one and keep pushing’, mentally it’s really draining though.”
“Internally I hear myself screaming ‘what the hell is happening?!?!'” she added.
The two-time U.S. Open champion went on and acknowledged that Monday’s loss is possibly part of “a small phase from all the new transitions (clay, grass, clay, hard etc),” but said she could only like the feeling that she’s experiencing to “being postpartum.”
“That scares [me] because I’ve been playing tennis since I was 3, the tennis racquet should feel like an extension of my hand,” she said. “I don’t understand why everything has to feel almost brand new again. This should be as simple as breathing to me but it’s not and I genuinely did not give myself grace for that fact until just now.”
Osaka said that she is learning and will continue to put in the work every day — which is something she hopes to teach her daughter.
“I love the process (though the process doesn’t love me sometimes haha), putting in work everyday and eventually having the opportunity to get to where you want to be,” she said. “I know life isn’t guaranteed so I want to do the best that I can with the time that I have, I want to teach my daughter that she can achieve so many things with hard work and perseverance. I want her to aim for the stars and never think her dreams are too big.”
“Nothing in life is promised but I realized that I can promise myself to work as hard as I can and give it my best shot till the very end,” she added.
Osaka ended her message with, “See you in New York ♥️,” noting that she will play again at the U.S. Open at the end of the month.
2024 marks Osaka’s tennis comeback a year after welcoming her daughter in July 2023.
Last month, she competed in singles at the Olympics but lost to Angelique Kerber in the first round.
(PARIS) — U.S. women’s gymnastics star Jordan Chiles won two medals at the Summer Olympic Games.
Chiles joined ABC News’ Good Morning America from Disneyland Paris on Tuesday fresh off her bronze medal win in the floor exercise final.
“There were so many emotions, so many things going through my mind when I found out I got that bronze medal,” Chiles said. “I couldn’t be more proud of myself.”
After the finale event on Monday, which wrapped up the women’s artistic gymnastics competitions at the Summer Games, the U.S. women will leave Paris with eight medals total.
They won the team gold medal; Biles won two additional gold individual medals in all-around and vault, plus silver in floor; Sunisa Lee got bronze in both all-around and uneven bars; Jade Carey won bronze in vault; and Chiles earned bronze for floor.
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(WASHINGTON) — The Court of Arbitration for Sport will not hear U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles’ appeal to keep her bronze medal from the Olympics despite new evidence, according to USA Gymnastics.
“USA Gymnastics was notified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday that their rules do not allow for an arbitral award to be reconsidered even when conclusive new evidence is presented,” the governing body for gymnastics in the U.S. said in a statement. “We are deeply disappointed by the notification and will continue to pursue every possible avenue and appeal process, including to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, to ensure the just scoring, placement, and medal award for Jordan.”
Chiles initially finished fifth in the individual floor exercise at last week’s Paris Olympic Games, only to be moved up to the bronze medal spot when her coaches appealed the scoring of one of the elements in her routine.
The judges had incorrectly downgraded one of the elements of her routine and added the correct 0.1 points to her score on appeal. She jumped from 13.666 points to 13.766 points and passed over two Romanian gymnasts to place third.
The decision to award Chiles the bronze medal came as Romania’s Ana Barbosu was already celebrating her spot on the medal stand. She left in tears and her coaches would appeal the ruling, saying Chiles’ coaches took four seconds longer than the allotted one minute coaches have to appeal to the judges.
The International Gymnastics Federation awarded Barbosu third place after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided the appeal made by Chiles’ coach at the event, with CAS saying Chiles’ score was “raised after the conclusion of the one-minute deadline.” In saying the challenge came too late, the CAS reinstated the incorrect 13.666 score.
In accordance with the CAS ruling, the International Olympic Committee said in a statement it “will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania). We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal.”
“We are devastated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling regarding women’s floor exercise,” USA Gymnastics wrote in a statement shared to Instagram on Saturday after the initial ruling was delivered, adding, “Throughout the appeal process, Jordan has been subject to consistent, utterly baseless and extremely hurtful attacks on social media.”
USA Gymnastics said Sunday it had video evidence that the appeal by Chiles’ coaches was submitted 47 seconds after Chiles’ incorrect score was published, well within the one-minute time limit.
The CAS on Monday said it would not even look at that evidence since their rules did not allow it.
USA Gymnastics said Monday it would continue to fight for Chiles, who has already returned to the U.S. with her bronze medal. She posted over the weekend on social media that she would be taking a break from posting amid the controversy.
Teammates Simone Biles and Suni Lee both issued statements of support for Chiles on Instagram over the weekend.
“Sending you so much love, Jordan,” Biles wrote in her post. “Keep your chin up Olympic champ! We love you!”