Naomi Osaka reveals what she 'won't do again' after Wimbledon run ends with quarter-final loss to Karolina Muchova

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Naomi Osaka has detailed what she "probably won’t do again" after seeing her career-best Wimbledon run ended in the quarter-finals by Karolina Muchova. Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka didn’t drop a set on her way to the last eight and beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the last 16.

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But she lost a tight match to Muchova to end her hopes of winning the title at the All England Club for the first time.

Osaka said after the match that she "didn't have any energy" and explained why that might have been.

"I could feel it coming because I've played way more matches than I usually do before a Slam," she said. "I just wanted to try that to see the rhythm, you know? Obviously it worked out well. But I think I probably won't do that again.

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"I would say it was like an accumulation of playing two weeks straight without a day off."

Osaka had reached her first grass final before Wimbledon at Bad Homburg, also losing to Muchova following a retirement in the final.

That match was just two days before the start of Wimbledon.

”I feel like it's hard because I played so well in my last match, then today I just feel like I didn't play well at all and I didn't have any energy,” Osaka said about her quarter-final defeat.

"It kind of just felt like my legs were completely gone, then I felt like I couldn't really push off anymore. It was a really weird feeling, like my legs were disconnected from the upper half of my body."

Osaka added that it might have been better for her if the weather was hotter, despite temperatures already being around 30 degrees Celsius.

"If it was hotter, I probably would have won. I'm not going to lie. Like, I'm a person that if it's really, really hot, I feel like it activates my powers or something. I kind of prefer it that way."

Despite the defeat, Osaka ends her grass season having played some of her best tennis since returning to the tour in 2024 after giving birth.

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She will now head to her most successful surface, hard court, with renewed confidence that she can add to her four Grand Slam titles.

”It's definitely given me a confidence boost. I think getting the furthest that I've got [at Wimbledon], going to a final on grass too, it's definitely really encouraging,” she said.

”Going on to hard court, which is my favorite surface, I hope I'm able to learn a lot and apply it to become a more complete player.”

She added: ”I know my results don't show it, but whenever I play a Slam, my intention is to win.

”And obviously last year I got to the semis [at the US Open] and I wanted so desperately to be in the final to have that opportunity, but Amanda [Anisimova] played insane. I honestly wasn't even mad that she won.

”This one is a little more upsetting to me because I feel like there was so much more I could have done. I think maybe I should find the positive in that because I've gotten to the quarters and I feel like I can still improve so much as a player.

”I feel like in my head I think there's still an opportunity to win a Slam.”

Osaka also spoke about dealing with plantar fasciitis, a persistent condition that causes pain on the bottom of the foot, and her hopes that it will not impact her moving forward.

”It kind of started happening off-season last year," she said. "I feel like maybe it's because I'm a lot more springy on my toes. I think it reactivated on grass court because I'm pushing off a lot more to go forward.

”I don't think it will bother me on hard court. I'm thinking it was maybe just the surface change.”

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