Tearful Japanese star Naomi Osaka says she's taking time away from tennis, after melting down and crashing out of the US Open in the third round, against Canadian teen Leylah Fernandez.
The defending champion served for the match in the second set, but completely lost her poise, conceding five straight points to lose a tiebreak, then dropped serve in the opening game of the third set.
Between sets, Osaka, 23, left the court in an attempt to regroup, but could not halt the slide, as she eventually lost 5-7 7-6(2) 6-4.
Afterwards, she broke down at a media conference, claiming she did not know when she would play next.
"I feel like, for me recently, when I win, I don't feel happy - I feel more like relief," she says. "And when I lose, I feel very sad and I don't think that's normal."
A moderator tried to step in to end the interview, but Osaka brushed him aside, insisting she wanted to finish. Her relationship with media has been strained, since she withdrew from the French Open this year, insisting she did not wish to attend obligatory press conferences at the tournament.
She subsequently missed Wimbledon and although she competed at the Tokyo Olympics, where she lit the flame on behalf of the host nation, the world No.2 bowed out in the third round.
"This is very hard to articulate," she told reporters. "Basically, I'm at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do and I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match.
"I think I'm going to take a break from playing for a while."
Osaka then gave two thumbs up, donned her COVID-19 face mask and left a stunned audience to write their headlines.
As a member of the ESPN commentary team, former doubles specialist Rennae Stubbs admits she became emotional watching the scene play out before her.
"Every single tennis player I know goes through moments like this," says the Australian. "They go back to their hotel room and cry, they lock themselves in their room for a day, they don't want to see anybody and don't want to talk to anyone.
"The problem is Naomi is doing it on such a world stage, so every time something like that happens, we're showing it.
"This sport is very hard. You're out there in a stadium with 15,000 people cheering for you, against you - you're not quite sure.
"A lot of players go through exactly what she's going through, they just don't do it with the glare of the spotlight on them like she does.
"Winning is a relief is a very normal thing."
Osaka has won four Grand Slam titles, including this year's Australian Open. Since starting the year 12-0, she has gone 5-4 and failed to progress past the third round of a tournament.
She won her first major title at the 2018 US Open, where she defeated American icon Serena Williams in a tumultuous final that saw Williams clash savagely and repeatedly with the chair umpire.
More to come
