US Open title not happiest memory: Osaka

Naomi Osaka made the startling admission that winning the US Open was “bittersweet” and “not the happiest memory” and revealed that she has been trying to forget about the career-defining victory.

The 20-year-old rising star from Japan stunned Serena Williams last month in a tempestuous final in which the American called chair umpire Carlos Ramos “a thief” and later accused him of sexism. “There’s a lot of stuff I want to say about how I felt and whatever,” the world number six said.

Williams’s high-profile meltdown made headlines over Osaka’s feat in becoming the first Japanese to win a Grand Slam, although Osaka has declined to point finger at the American great. “For me, I don’t know, I don’t know, the memory of the US Open is a little bit bittersweet,” Osaka said. “Right after, the day after, I really didn’t want to think about it because it wasn’t necessarily the happiest memory for me.