Naomi Osaka hit with illness as star gets honest after United Cup loss | Tennis | Sport
Naomi Osaka has revealed that she was suffering from an illness during her first match of the season. The world No. 16 looked flat as she suffered a 6-4 6-2 defeat to Maria Sakkari at the United Cup on Friday as Japan took on Greece. Osaka will now face Emma Raducanu in Japan’s tie against Great Britain on Sunday, and the four-time Major winner is hoping to make a full recovery in time for the Australian Open.
Although she’s been dealing with a bout of sickness, Osaka got candid after losing her first match of 2026, and blamed nerves for some of her serving woes. The season is still young, but the former world No. 1 was disappointed with her form against Sakkari.
“I mean, honestly from my end, it’s tough to say like I don’t care because I do care. I kind of have been dealing with some health stuff, so I’m kind of just happy to be out here right now. It’s not like serious, but yeah. I was pretty happy with the level of playing that I played at right now, so whatever,” Osaka said after losing in 93 minutes.
“I mean, I’m not operating at the per cent that I want to be operating at, which kind of sucks because, like, I had a really good off-season so I thought I was going to do really well here. Then I got really sick. I think I’m at the tail end of that, but still not amazing.
“So yeah, I feel like for me, I’m just trying to get better every day. Obviously I had a cough, like a runny nose, like all that nasty stuff, yeah. Hopefully it goes away before the Australian Open. Honestly, it’s been a minute, which is why I’m shocked that I still have it. I think I got it from my daughter. I want to say [I got sick] like before Christmas Eve.”
Japan are making their team debut at this year’s United Cup – and Osaka was gutted that she couldn’t get a point on the board against Greece. Stefanos Tsitsipas ultimately won the tie for Greece, beating Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3 6-4.
She added: “I mean, it’s been tough. Also for me, that’s why I also really appreciate being here because you feel the team atmosphere, it makes you want to go out and do your best and do something. I feel very apologetic that I couldn’t get the win. I don’t know, we’re all here to try our best. If it doesn’t work out, it sucks, but we’re going to just try again another day.”
As for her serving issues, the two-time Aussie Open winner explained: “Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t blame that on being sick. I was just really nervous so my hand was shaking a little bit. That’s definitely from my end that comes the first match of the year or if I have a long break or something so…”
