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Naomi Osaka philosophical and happy in defeat thanks to campaign of self-improvement

Japan's Naomi Osaka waves to the crowd after losing her third-round match - Naomi Osaka philosophical and happy in defeat thanks to campaign of self-improvement - REUTERS
Japan's Naomi Osaka waves to the crowd after losing her third-round match - Naomi Osaka philosophical and happy in defeat thanks to campaign of self-improvement - REUTERS

After a miserable 2021, Naomi Osaka started this season by promising to be kinder to herself. This ambition was sorely tested on Friday, when her defence of the Australian Open title came to grief against 20-year-old American Amanda Anisimova.

Despite her narrow 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 defeat – which included a couple of match points she was unable to convert – Osaka remained relaxed and philosophical during her post-match interviews. She acknowledged the star quality of Anisimova’s performance and stressed that she could not be angry with herself when she had “tried the best that I could”.

“I’m not God,” added Osaka, who is now back on speaking terms with the media after her press-conference boycott from last year’s French Open. “I can’t win every match. So, I just have to take that into account and know that it would be nice to win the tournament, but that’s really special, you know. I can’t, like, think of myself to try to win the grand slam at the start of the year every time.”

Osaka even managed a smile, which made for a stark contrast with her loss to eventual runner-up Leylah Fernandez in the third round of September’s US Open. On that occasion, she broke down in tears, and warned that she would have to take some time away from the game. She also said that she was struggling to enjoy her wins, while feeling “very sad” when she lost.

A self-confessed perfectionist, Osaka has returned to the tour this season with a stated desire to rediscover her love of the game. She has been keeping a gratitude journal, burning candles in her room, and meditating. Her tennis – so slick here 12 months ago – has shown understandable signs of rust after her long lay-off. But her wider campaign of self-improvement seems to be heading along the right road.

“For me, I feel like I grew a lot in this match,” Osaka said. “The last match that I played in New York, I think I had a completely different attitude, so I’m really happy … Of course, I lost, but I’m happy with how it went.”

Anisimova’s return to form is another welcome sight, for there were fears that her career might be derailed when her father and mentor, Konstantin, died suddenly in August 2019. Only a couple of months earlier, Anisimova had reached the French Open semi-finals at the tender age of 17, sweeping opponents aside with one of the most lethal two-handed backhands ever seen.

Amanda Anisimova - GETTY IMAGES
Amanda Anisimova - GETTY IMAGES

While clearly delighted with Friday’s result, Anisimova went out of her way to praise her opponent. After the enormous emotional impact of her own bereavement, she is particularly appreciative of the way Osaka has opened up a debate around players’ mental health.

“She just tells the truth about how she feels,” Anisimova said. “[It’s great] to spread awareness and try to get rid of the stigma around mental health. I’ve gone through a couple of hard years, and I don’t mind posting stuff on social media for people who are also going through tough things.” Anisimova now moves on to a date with home favourite Ashleigh Barty in the fourth round. It will be a fascinating match-up, for both players have been in sparkling form, each winning one of the WTA warm-up events in Adelaide.

While Barty has dropped only eight games in her three matches in Melbourne, Anisimova overpowered even the big-hitting Osaka, running up a tally of 46 clean winners to her opponent’s 21.

One factor in Anisimova’s success has been the recent hiring of Australian supercoach Darren Cahill, who formerly helped Simona Halep to become world No 1. Not that Cahill would be overly popular with his compatriots tomorrow if his new charge happened to interrupt the Barty party.

Osaka’s exit means that only one former champion remains in the women’s draw, and that is Victoria Azarenka, who won back-to-back titles here in 2012 and 2013. Azarenka was superb in dispatching the 15th seed, Elina Svitolina, in double-quick time: 6-0, 6-2.

In the men’s draw, meanwhile, the results followed the seedings. Matteo Berrettini, last summer’s Wimbledon runner-up, had the toughest assignment when he was taken to a deciding-set tie-break by the phenomenally talented Spanish 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz. Unlike Osaka, however, Berrettini managed to see off his younger challenger 6-2, 7-6, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6.

Rafael Nadal was delayed slightly by former world No 8 Karen Khachanov, the muscular Russian, but bounced back from dropping the third set to come through 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in 2hr 50min.


Australians chasten ‘political’ Peng Shuai campaigners

By Ben Rumsby

Campaigners wearing “Where is Peng Shuai?” T-shirts were told to remove them by police and security at the Australian Open because they were “political”.

Footage emerged on Twitter on Friday of a stand-off involving two “human rights activists” being informed the T-shirts would be confiscated, along with a banner, for breaching rules prohibiting the display of political items at the tournament.

The T-shirts and banner were deemed to have fallen foul of those rules, despite ongoing fears for Peng’s wellbeing having been discussed openly by top players at the first grand slam of the year.

The crackdown also occurred despite the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) having suspended all tournaments in China after being shown “insufficient evidence” Peng was safe.

The footage posted on Friday was uploaded to Twitter by Drew Pavlou, whose biography on the site reads: “Human rights activist running to represent Queensland in the Australian Senate. Denounced by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.”

Said to have been filmed close to where Naomi Osaka – one of the most outspoken players about the disappearance and questionable re-emergence of Peng – was practising, a first clip shows a member of Australian Open security telling campaigners: “Condition of entry to the whole venue, you’re not supposed to bring any political statements into the building, okay?”

One of those present can be heard to respond: “So, Free Peng Shuai is political, according to Tennis Australia?”

A second clip shows an exchange between a police officer and Pavlou, who was not present in person but staged an intervention by telephone.

The officer says: “Regardless of any particular views on the issue, the Australian Open does have a rule that there can’t be any political slogans.”

Pavlou replies: “What’s political about asking for a woman’s tennis player to be freed? What’s political about just simply echoing the call of the Women’s Tennis Association?”

When the officer stands firm, Pavlou says: “I don’t think you get it. Like, this isn’t a political message. This isn’t someone saying, ‘Vote the Liberal Party, vote the Labor Party’. This is a female tennis player who’s been persecuted and the Women’s Tennis Association has spoken out for her and it is simply speaking up [for] what the Women’s Tennis Association is saying. So, where’s the political message?”

When one of those present asks the officer, “Are they legally allowed to confiscate our things, even if we are leaving?”, he replies after checking: “Security’s saying – and, again, these are the rules that Tennis Australia have put down – that they are allowed to confiscate your shirts and the banner.”

Condemning what happened, Minky Worden, the director of global initiatives for Human Rights Watch, accused tournament organisers of “a shameful pandering to the Chinese government, who have disappeared and coerced a top female tennis player to drop or row back her written complaint of a sexual abuse against a former senior Communist Party official”.

Tennis Australia and the WTA have both been approached for comment.