Naomi Osaka says motherhood made her ‘proud’ after early US Open exit

(NEW YORK) — Tennis star Naomi Osaka is reacting to her early exit from the U.S. Open with a message focusing on pride and motherhood.

Osaka suffered a loss in the second round of the U.S. Open in two straight sets to Czech Karolína Muchová on Thursday.

“Honestly I had typed out a whole caption about how I’m disappointed with myself etc but I’ve been sitting here playing with my daughter and I realized that I couldn’t be more proud of myself,” Osaka wrote on Saturday.

“I gave birth to such an amazing human and I played the US Open? A win is a win,” she continued. “Sure it didn’t work out this time but I have faith it will eventually. Thank you NY 🖤 see you next time.”

Osaka shared photos from the tournament featuring white bows on her outfit along with a video of singer Rihanna saying, “I remember thinking, she can beat me but she can not beat my outfit.”

In a press conference after the match, Osaka opined on her loss saying, “Honestly, if I get past the disappointment, I feel pretty proud of myself to have gotten that many opportunities while still feeling like I could have played much better.”

Prior to Thursday’s loss, the tennis star earned her first top-10 win in four years, beating former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday, advancing to the second round.

Osaka first announced her pregnancy in January of last year, before sharing the arrival of her child in an Instagram post in July of last year.

Naomi Osaka says ‘I don’t feel like I’m in my body’ in candid post after Cincinnati Open loss

In January, Osaka opened up about her postpartum journey in an interview with Glamour.

“Having a baby completely destroys your pelvic floor,” she said. “I was shocked, because I couldn’t get up out of my bed.”

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