Japan’s Naomi Osaka reacts during a WTA Madrid Open round of 32 tennis match against Spain’s Sara Sorribes at the Caja Magica in Madrid on May 7, 2019. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP)
Naomi Oaska admitted she “was thinking about too many things” in her 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 Madrid Open quarter-final loss to Belinda Bencic on Thursday.
World number one Osaka has claimed the last two majors at the US and Australian Opens and will be looking for a third in succession when she travels to Paris for the French Open later this month.
However, she admitted that knowing her top WTA ranking could possibly be in danger after failing to reach the Madrid semi-finals might have played on her mind mid-match on Thursday.
“I was just thinking about too many things. I wanted to win this match so much because she’d beaten me before — I didn’t want to lose twice in a row,” said the 21-year-old.
“People have been telling me if I get to the semis here, I can stay number one.
“I wanted to…
