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| World No. 1 Naomi Osaka at 2019 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships |
The Australian and US Open champion, 21, was beaten 6-3 6-3 by France's Kristina Mladenovic in the Dubai Tennis Championships second round.
It was her first match since since splitting with Sascha Bajin last week.
Asked if she could block out reaction to the news she said, "I couldn't. This match is the result of that."
"I'm pretty sure as time goes on you guys will stop talking about it. For now, it's like the biggest tennis news, I guess.
"It's a little bit hard because I feel like people are staring at me, and not like in a good way."
"For sure there's no one that really thinks losing is fun," Osaka said during the Japanese portion of her press conference. "But for me, I've always been taught that when you lose, you learn more than when you win. I try to take that as really important advice because I think it is true."
Osaka, who had a bye in the first round, lost in 66 minutes in round two against a player who had not won a match this year before this tournament.
Despite the loss, Osaka will head to Indian Wells with the No.1 ranking intact as she prepares for another career milestone: defending a title for the first time in her career.
"I'm not really sure [how I'll feel] because I've never been a defending champion," Osaka said. "Hopefully I remember all the good times that I've had there, somehow start feeling better about myself.
"But I can't really say until I get there."
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