Naomi Osaka 'doubled' her wildest tennis dreams - and her next step might be her biggest yet

Following an emotional post-game press conference, tennis champ Naomi Osaka took to social media to share some candid thoughts. In a message to her followers, 27-year old Osaka says that she is determined to enjoy her tennis journey “no matter how long or short it may be”.

On July 7, 2025, the four-time Grand Slam winner shared a lengthy post on her Instagram grid, entitled “Expectations” saying in the caption she had “some thoughts in my head I had to get out”. In the post, she details a conversation with her dad that stuck with her.

“Recently I had a talk with my dad…something he said really stuck with me,” the post begins. She goes on to say that at 59 her dad related feeling closer to the end of his life than the beginning and thinks her tenniscareer is similar.

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“I didn’t understand what he was trying to say to me and truthfully the topic made me panic,” Osaka admits, though she says eventually she was struck with realisation.

“I’ve been playing tennis since I was 3, playing professionally since I was 14 and I’m 27 now. I’ve lived almost my entire life playing this sport and I guess it’s true, I am closer to the end than the beginning.

“When I was younger my dream was to hold the US Open trophy, winning it seemed like a fairy tale.” She goes on to say that she has “doubled my wildest dreams” having won the US Open twice - once in 2018and once in 2020 - but she still feels pressure to perform.

“Somehow I let my expectations of myself and the expectations of others prevent me from enjoying the rest of my journey no matter how long or short it may be.” Osaka concludes with a promise to “enjoy the times” and also see her daughter “reap the fruits of my labour”.

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Speaking on the pressure Osaka faces, Stephanie Hilborne OBE, CEO of Women in Sport, told The Mirror that the pressure to perform is often heightened for female elite athletes.

"Naomi has four major titles, seven WTA tour-level singles, and has used her platform to campaign for racial justice, but still may feel the need to blaze the trail for mothers, prove the doubters wrong, continue to challenge the stereotypes that tell girls and women they don’t belong in sport."

Hilborne says female elite players have to develop "exceptional resilience" and "Naomi is no exception". She adds that the the "never-ending barrage of online abuse" is also a factor that the public should be aware of and that "there is an additional horrific layer of misogyny when it comes to women, and especially Black women".

Osaka's Instagram post was shared a few days after her loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova where she failed to progress beyond the third round at the All England Club. The former World No. 1 was visibly and understandably disheartened in her post-game conference, which was widely circulated on social media.

Osaka expressed her frustration at the media for the increased attention and scrutiny she receives after losses, especially when she is visibly upset. She called out media groups like ESPNin particular, writing on Threads: “Bro why is it every time I do a press conference after a loss the ESPNs and blog gotta clip it and put it up.”

She continued: “Wtf, why don’t they clip my press conferences after I win? Like why push the narrative that I’m always sad?

“Sure I was disappointed a couple hours ago, now I'm motivated to do better. That's human emotions. The way they clip me I feel like I should be fake happy all the time."

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