At the very beginning of the year, for her return to competition in Australia after a terribly difficult year 2021 on a psychological level, the 24-year-old young woman, plagued by recurring mental anxiety problems, said "just wanting to feel fun" on the court.

Saturday, in the Californian desert where she had until now almost only good memories – in particular her first title in 2018 – she was far from being granted.

And the defeat, finally conceded 6-0, 6-4 against the Russian Veronika Kudermetova, is not the primary reason.

It was these words, "Naomi you suck!", pronounced by a spectator during the 3rd game of the first inning, which made him flinch.

The Japanese could not hide her distress by going to sit on her chair for the change of side.

She couldn't suppress a few tears after complaining about the behavior to officials.

Without consequence for the person who spoke these words, when it sometimes happens in the NBA that fans are excluded from the rooms because of their verbal provocations or their aggressive behavior.

The memory of the Williams

Osaka kept her eyes foggy for the rest of the game.

She struggled more to continue playing than to hope for a very hypothetical victory, given her obvious discomfort on center court.

Especially since Kudermetova was able to remain imperturbable despite the circumstances, even when her opponent, driven by a pride that we have rarely seen in such difficulties, seemed to come back into the game.

Naomi Osaka breaks down in tears in the middle of an exchange with WTA supervisor Clare Wood in the 2nd round of the tournament in Indian Wells, California on March 12, 2022 CLIVE BRUNSKILL GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Osaka finally lost her serve in the 7th game of the second set and the Russian did not miss the opportunity to put an end to it.

The latter seemed very embarrassed at the microphone on the court, praising the combativeness of the Japanese.

And completely unexpectedly, Osaka agreed to play the word game for the ending.

A terribly trying exercise that brought new tears to her cheeks.

"To be honest, I feel like I've been heckled before, it didn't really bother me. But, I watched a video of Venus and Serena (Williams) getting heckled here. If you never looked at it, you should look at it”, she said painfully between two sobs.

In 2001, during the final won by Serena Williams against Kim Clijsters, her sister Venus and their father Richard were insulted in the stands.

For 14 years the two champions refused to return to play in this tournament.

"I try not to cry"

"I don't know why, but it just popped into my head and it stuck...I'm trying not to cry. I just have to say thank you and congratulations," she concluded, making a nod to Kudermetova.

In September, after her premature elimination in the third round of the US Open, of which she was defending champion, against the young Canadian Leylah Fernandez, Osaka burst into tears at a press conference.

Previously, she had withdrawn during the tournament at Roland-Garros, after refusing to answer questions from the media, revealing to have anxiety problems, marked by "several depressive episodes".

Naomi Osaka in tears as she speaks to the public after her Indian Wells 2nd round loss to Russian Veronika Kudermetova on March 12, 2022 MATTHEW STOCKMAN GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

She had skipped Wimbledon, before returning home to the Tokyo Games, where she had lit the Olympic cauldron and where expectations were huge.

But she had failed to glean a gold medal, being eliminated in the round of 16.

After her three-month break, in the wake of the US Open, Osaka said she felt "as good as possible" at the start of the Australian Open, where she was also defending her title there but where she did not was able to go past the 3rd round.

Back down to 78th place in the world, still very fragile psychologically, the question arises again of what will be his future on the courts.

© 2022 AFP