Thursday 1 August 2019 13:02, UK
Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has revealed that she hasn't "had fun" playing tennis since her victory at the Australian Open in January.
The 21-year-old appeared set to dominate women's tennis after following up her maiden major triumph at last year's US Open with victory in Melbourne, but has struggled since.
A surprise split from coach Sascha Bajin followed the Australian Open, and Osaka has failed to reach a final at any tournament since, with a third-round exit at the French Open and opening-round defeat at Wimbledon punctuating the Japanese star's struggles.
Osaka said in an "update" posted on her Twitter account: "The last few months for me have been really rough tennis wise, but thankfully I'm surrounded by people I love and who love me back (hopefully hahaha). In that regard I'm very thankful for them because whenever things go wrong I blame myself 100%.
"I have a tendency to shut down because I don't want to burden anyone with my thoughts or problems but they taught me to trust them and not take everything on by myself.
"Unexpectedly, though, the worst months of my life have also had some of the best moments cause I've met new people and been able to do things that I've never even considered doing before.
"That being said I can honestly reflect and say I probably haven't had fun playing tennis since Australia and I'm finally coming to terms with that while relearning that fun feeling."
Osaka hasn't played since her first-round loss to Yulia Putsineva at the All England Club, but is set to return to action at next week's Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Despite her poor run of form, Osaka remains the No 2 ranked player, and will still be considered a major contender when she begins the defence of her US Open title later this month.
"I've put so much weight on the results of my matches instead of learning from them, which is what I "normally" do," Osaka added.
"Having this time to reflect and think (from losing in the first round lololol), I've learned a lot about myself and I feel like I grew so much as a person in the past year(s) so I'm really excited what the future looks like on and off the court."
