KEY POINTS

  • Naomi Osaka has won four Grand Slam titles 
  • She is suffering a massive downfall in her tennis career
  • Osaka's WTA ranking has dropped to 48

Former WTA World No. 1 Naomi Osaka says she has gone through "more downs than ups" this year. Osaka has not won a title since last year's Australian Open.

Osaka faced a first-round exit in her last three tournaments. Ahead of this week's Pan Pacific Open, Osaka has dropped to 48th in the rankings.

"This year has not been the best year for me but I've learned a lot about myself. Life is ups and downs, and this year was more down than up, but overall I'm pretty happy with where I am now," Osaka said, reported BBC Sport.

Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, a WTA 500 event, is set to return after a gap of three years following the COVID-19 pandemic and Osaka is the defending champion. The Japanese star had defeated Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets in the final in 2019.

In May last year, Osaka pulled out of the Roland Garros after revealing she had "suffered long bouts of depression" since winning her maiden Grand Slam title in 2018. Later in September that year, the Japanese tennis star announced she would take a break from professional tennis.

This year, Osaka was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon with an Achilles injury, while she did not go past the opening round at the French and US Open. The third round at the Australian Open was the furthest point for her this year.

Press boycott: Japan's Naomi Osaka withdrew ahead of her second-round match at the French Open last year
Press boycott: Japan's Naomi Osaka withdrew ahead of her second-round match at the French Open last year AFP / MARTIN BUREAU

Osaka revealed it was tough to deal with the drop in form at the beginning.

"It was kind of hard at first, just because I feel like I should be somewhere where I'm obviously currently not. I think for me it's more about being at peace with myself. I know that I'm here for a reason," the 24-year-old added.

Osaka, whose first Grand Slam title came by beating legendary Serena Williams at the US Open in 2018, went on to add that she was "over trying to fill people's shoes."

"I don't think you can ever do that because everyone is unique, and we're all forging our own paths and we're all on our own journeys," Osaka said.

Serena recently retired from professional tennis and the US Open was her final appearance in a WTA event.

Osaka will play Australia's World No. 55 Daria Saville in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open on Tuesday.