Naomi Osaka To Quit Social Media To Avoid Negativity After Losing The Australian Open

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka was knocked out of the Australian Open in the third round Friday, losing in three sets to unseeded American Amanda Anisimova.

Naomi, who returned to major tennis at the Australian Open after a short break in 2021 to address her mental health, competed against 20-year-old Anisimova.

But immediately after the match, Osaka told reporters that her first step when she got back to the dressing room and checked her phone would be to get rid of several social media apps.

Asked about her feelings towards her losses frequently becoming headline news, she said: “I mean to me it’s always a tennis match, you know what I mean? I feel like the outside stuff comes after,” reported Insider.

She added: “The first thing that I’ll probably do when I look at my phone is delete Instagram and Twitter, and then I probably won’t redownload it for a couple of weeks.

“To me it’s exciting. Not the loss itself, but, like the person I lost to because it’s like showing the growth of tennis. I feel like now I’m in this position where if I lose to someone, it might make a headline, but I also think it kind of grows more superstars, and I feel like that’s good for the game.”

Outspoken former American tennis star John McEnroe, however, fears Osaka has put herself in a difficult position by talking so openly about her mental health.

The Metro reported that he said: “It is an extremely difficult position she has in some ways put herself in. Bringing the concept of mental health to the forefront of the conversation is a great idea, but it has brought attention to her.

“However, now we’re going to be discussing in more detail how is she going to handle losing match points? How is she going to handle losing early? Is she going to play a lot of events before the French Open?

“Will she play Wimbledon? She is going to have a lot more light on her and she is going to have to be prepared to handle that.”