Naomi Osaka tears up after first-round French Open loss to Paula Badosa

PARIS (AP) — Naomi Osaka still wore the pink accessories in her hair inspired by “sakura” — cherry blossoms — and there were streaks on her cheeks where tears had rolled, when she sat down for a French Open news conference after her first-round loss to Paula Badosa on Monday.

Osaka's red eyes welled as she answered a few questions before needing a break and briefly leaving the interview room following the 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-4 exit against the 10th-seeded Badosa.

“As time goes on, I feel like I should be doing better. But also — I kind of talked about this before, maybe a couple years ago, or maybe recently, I’m not sure — I hate disappointing people,” said Osaka, who owns four Grand Slam trophies from the hard courts of the U.S. Open and Australian Open but never has been past the third round on the red clay of Roland-Garros.

Then, referring to her current coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who used to work with Serena Williams, Osaka said: “He goes from working with, like, the greatest player ever to, like, ‘What the (expletive) is this?’ You know what I mean? Sorry for cursing. I hope I don’t get fined.”

Osaka, who was born in Japan and moved to the United States as a young child, was undone Monday by 54 unforced errors. That was twice as many as Badosa, whose best showing at a major was a semifinal run at the Australian Open in January and who reached the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros in 2021.

After taking the opening set, Osaka was treated by a trainer for hand blisters and also took time to clip her sakura-themed fingernails on the sideline.

She attributed the blisters, which also bothered her at the Italian Open this month, to “the friction of clay, because I don’t have blisters on any other surface.”

Osaka’s powerful serves and groundstrokes are dulled by the clay, and that showed against Badosa. Osaka was broken five times and finished with nearly as many double-faults, five, as aces, seven.

Once ranked No. 1 and currently No. 49, Osaka withdrew from the French Open in 2021 before her second-round match, explaining that she experiences “huge waves of anxiety” before speaking to the media and revealing she had dealt with depression. She then took multiple mental health breaks away from the tour.

She helped usher in a change in the way athletes, sports fans and society at large understood the importance of mental health.

A year ago at Roland-Garros, Osaka played one of her best matches since returning to action after becoming a mother, coming within a point of upsetting eventual tournament champion Iga Swiatek.

On Monday, after taking a break from questions, she returned to field one query from a Japanese journalist with an eye to the next major tournament, Wimbledon, which begins on grass on June 30.

“I don’t necessarily know my grass-season schedule right now,” Osaka said. “I wasn’t really expecting to lose in the first round.”

Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Spain's Paula Badosa during their first round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Monday, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Japan's Naomi Osaka reacts as she plays Spain's Paula Badosa during their first round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Monday, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Japan's Naomi Osaka reacts as she plays Spain's Paula Badosa during their first round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Monday, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Japan's Naomi Osaka leaves after loosing to Spain's Paula Badosa during their first round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Monday, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Spain's Paula Badosa celebrates beating Japan's Naomi Osaka after their first round match of the French Tennis Open, at the Roland-Garros stadium, in Paris, Monday, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Police in Uganda on Saturday denied reports that the main opposition candidate in this week's tense election had been arrested, terming the reports as “deceitful and inciteful.” They urged citizens to remain peaceful as the country awaits the results in the presidential vote.

Uganda held a general election on Thursday amid an internet shutdown that has been in place for four days, with the military heavily deployed across the country and pockets of violence erupting as people protested parliamentary election results in various parts of the country.

President Yoweri Museveni, 81, is seeking a seventh term in office and is leading in the provisional results with more than 70% support. His main challenger, musician-turned-politician Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, better known as Bobi Wine, is currently holding 20% of the vote. Wine dismissed the announced results as “fake,” and asked his supporters to ignore them.

Police on Saturday said that Wine was “not under arrest,” as claimed by his National Unity Platform party. Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke said Wine was free to leave his house, but there was “controlled access” for others trying to go into the property, to prevent people from using the premises to incite violence.

“It should not surprise you when we have a pickup or two near the residence of Kyagulanyi,” Rusoke said.

Ugandan electoral officials are set to announce the final presidential results on Saturday, as constitutionally required. The chairperson of the national electoral commission said Friday that everything was on course to announce the final result by the end of the day Saturday.

The voting was marred by delays due to the late delivery of materials to polling stations after opening time and the failure of some biometric machines.

President Museveni said he agreed with the electoral commission’s plan to revert to paper voter registration records, but Wine alleged fraud, claiming that there was “massive ballot stuffing” and that his party’s polling agents were abducted to give an unfair advantage to the ruling party.

The security forces were a constant presence throughout the election campaign, and Wine said authorities followed him and harassed his supporters, using tear gas against them. He campaigned in a flak jacket and helmet due to his security fears.

Wine wrote Thursday on X that he was unable to leave his house, and on Friday his party wrote that he had been arrested and taken away in an army helicopter.

Uganda has not witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from British colonial rule six decades ago.

Veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, remains in prison after he was charged with treason in February 2025.

Uganda's security forces patrol a street during protests following the announcement of the preliminary results in Kampala, Uganda, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

A Ugandan police officer makes a gesture behind a burning fire amid protests following the announcement of the preliminary results in Kampala, Uganda, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Girls run during protests following the preliminary results in Kampala, Uganda, Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)