“Losing the Control”: Renowned Journalist Advises Naomi Osaka to Learn From Maria Sharapova

World No.8 Naomi Osaka didn’t enjoy a great run at the US Open 2021. She failed to defend her title in New York and got eliminated in the third round of the Grand Slam. Surprisingly, she lost to 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez.

After the US Open 2021, Naomi Osaka decided to take a break from tennis. She believes she is not fully fit and fine right now and needs some time off the court. She even withdrew from the Indian Wells Masters 2021 citing her mental health issues.

In an exclusive interview to Tennis Majors, renowned sports journalist, Carole Bouchard, highlighted that it looks as if Osaka is losing her control over herself. She feels as if the 4-time Grand Slam champion doesn’t have the same power with which she used to play earlier.

“I think Naomi is maybe feeling she’s losing the control over what’s going on around her because she’s not in power,” said Bouchard in the interview.

Osaka had a mental breakdown at the French Open 2021. Even though she made a comeback at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, she has not been able to regain her form and momentum since the Australian Open 2021.

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Carole Bouchard believes that Naomi Osaka should learn from Maria Sharapova

In the same interview, Bouchard reflected that Osaka can learn quite a many things from Maria Sharapova. She stated that that just like the 5-time Grand Slam winner, Naomi should say a ‘no’ to certain photoshoots and commercials and focus on her gameplay more if they are, in a way, distracting her.

“How to be a businesswoman but to be in charge of what you’re doing, to be in charge of your destiny in a way, saying no to a photoshoot if you don’t have a say. Maria has really dealt it in a way like, ‘I’m not going to be this pretty thing’, everybody’s doing a photoshoot about and having no say about anything…I really think there’s a lot of things to learn from Maria Sharapova,” added the journalist.

Naomi Osaka’s return date on the tour is not certain as of now. However, fans have huge expectations from her and want her to make an incredible comeback on the court. Will she be able to defend her Australian Open title next year?

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