Naomi Osaka reacts to her Madrid defeat by Aryna Sabalenka

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Despite going up a set and a break, Naomi Osaka couldn’t hold off Aryna Sabalenka, falling short against the world number one.

She’d hinted at possible retirement following her first-round exit at the Miami Open last month.

Naomi didn’t play again until Madrid, where Sabalenka won 6(1)-7, 6-3, 6-2. Even with the loss, it was a much tighter contest compared to their previous meeting at Indian Wells.

Reflecting on the match, Osaka spoke about the improvement but also shared some frustration with how things played out in that second set.

Naomi Osaka frustrated after missing out on win against Aryna Sabalenka

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Osaka has never really enjoyed playing on clay, with all seven of her tour titles coming on hard courts. But this performance in Madrid looked like progress for her.

Speaking to reporters after the match, Osaka was asked how she felt about her game on clay compared to a year ago.

Despite the loss, she said there were positives to take from how she played against Sabalenka.

“I mean, I think for me, like I can, I guess, obviously, like, losing is not a positive thing for me, but I can take positives from this match,” Osaka said.

“Obviously I feel like I’m in a better spot than I was last year. Last year I wasn’t ranked. This year I’m ranked. I can go to Rome as a seed, which is really cool for me. Yeah, it was a tough match.” And continued:

“Yeah… so just going there and knowing that every round’s important and trying not to get down on myself if things don’t go my way at first.”

When asked what stood out as positive from the match with Sabalenka, she focused again on how close it felt throughout.