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Reigning U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka experienced another down moment in a difficult summer, losing her third-round match on Friday night in New York and then saying she was unsure when she would step back on the court.

The third-seeded Japanese player fell 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4 to Canadian teen Leylah Fernandez.



“Basically I feel like I’m kind of at this point where I’m trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don’t know when I’m going to play my next tennis match,” Osaka said. “I think I’m going to take a break from playing for a while. …

“I feel like for me recently, like, when I win I don’t feel happy,” Osaka said. “I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad. I don’t think that’s normal.”

Fernandez, an 18-year-old who is ranked 73rd in the world, is headed to the fourth round of a Grand Slam event for the first time in her career. She won her first career WTA Tour title in March at Monterrey, Mexico, but since then she had a 5-8 match record prior to the U.S. Open.

“Honestly, I wasn’t focusing on Naomi,” Fernandez said. “I was only focusing on myself and what I needed to do.”

Naomi Osaka Hasn’t Played Much

Osaka, 23, won the Australian Open in February for her third Grand Slam championship. However, she withdrew after the second round of the French Open, citing a need to focus on her mental health, then skipped Wimbledon.

She returned to action in the Tokyo Olympics in front of her home-country fans. However, Osaka lost in the third round there, then fell in the third round at Cincinnati and now in the third round in New York.

Osaka had a chance to put away Fernandez, serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set, but Fernandez broke serve to set up a tiebreaker that she dominated, winning the first five points.

Fernandez recorded the only service break of the third set in the first game. Her opponent in the round of 16 will be 16th-seeded Angelique Kerber. The German, who won the 2016 U.S. Open, advanced with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 win over Sloane Stephens of the United States.

Looking ahead to opposing Kerber, Fernandez said, “I’m going to put on a show like I did tonight, and we’re going to see how it goes.”

Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, hit more winners than Kerber (36-24) but also had more unforced errors (39-30).

–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)