PERTH – Naomi Osaka said that she fell “really sick” over Christmas and was not at her best when she suffered a straight-sets loss to Maria Sakkari at the United Cup on Friday.
The Japanese four-time Grand Slam champion was seen coughing at times in her 6-4, 6-2 defeat by her Greek opponent at RAC Arena in Perth.
The result gave Greece a 1-0 lead in their clash, before Stefanos Tsitsipas then sealed victory with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Shintaro Mochizuki shortly after.
“I have been dealing with some health stuff, so I’m kind of just happy to be out here right now,” Osaka said.
“It’s not serious, but I’m not operating at the per cent that I want to be operating at, which kind of sucks, because I had a really good off season, so I thought I was going to do really well here.
“But then I got really sick, so I think I’m at the tail end of that, but still not amazing.”
She added: “I’m just trying to get better every day. I had a cough, a runny nose, like all that nasty stuff, so hopefully it goes away before the Australian Open.”
Sakkari, meanwhile, believed that she played well regardless of Osaka’s condition.
“I have a very good backhand cross,” she said.
“And we had a lot of battles going across to each other, so I felt whoever just went down the line first had the best chance of winning the point. It was something we worked on in pre-season a lot and it paid off today.”
Ties comprise one men’s and one women’s singles and a mixed doubles, with group winners in each city advancing to the quarter-finals along with the best runner-up.
Earlier in the day, Sebastian Baez and Solana Sierra led Argentina to a 2-0 win over Spain to begin the tournament and clinch only the nation’s second win from seven ties played at this event.
The South Americans got over the line after tournament debutant Sierra held her nerve for a 6-4, 5-7, 6-0 defeat of Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
Baez got his country on the scoreboard with a 6-4, 6-4 beating of Jaume Munar, earning a surprise win on hardcourt after just three victories in nine matches on the surface last season.
“I really enjoyed this moment, the time on court, so happy to have won this point for Argentina,” he said.
Sierra showed grit to claw back in her match and take it to a third set.
“It was a really tough match, I had to focus on my game,” she said. “I’m proud that I kept going and won in the third set.” AFP, REUTERS
Women’s tennisNaomi OsakaMen’s tennis
AloJapan.com