'I'm getting old': 28yo Osaka's Wimbledon run ends at quarterfinals

Naomi Osaka says she can feel time catching up with her after her loss to Karolina Muchova at Wimbledon. (Getty Images: Robert Prange)

Naomi Osaka's Wimbledon run came to an end at the hands of Czech opponent Karolina Muchova.

The 28-year-old bemoaned getting old after she tried an intensive program coming into the grand slam.

Muchova will play America's Coco Gauff in the semifinal on Thursday night (AEST).

Sure, Naomi Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion who also impresses with her fashionable outfits.

But on Wednesday morning (AEST), she sounded like the rest of us. The plantar fasciitis was acting up. She's working too much.

The 28-year-old Osaka's Wimbledon run and fashion show ended in a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 loss to Karolina Muchova in the quarterfinals of the grass court grand slam.

Osaka, a former number one player, had ousted top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round — with arguably some of her best tennis since returning from maternity leave — but couldn't find her rhythm against her Czech opponent.

"It's hard because I played so well in my last match, then today I just feel like I didn't play well at all and I didn't have any energy," said Osaka, who, despite the loss, still had her best result at the All England Club by reaching the quarterfinals.

Osaka and Muchova hug after their Wimbledon quarterfinal clash. (Getty Images: Shi Tang)

"I could feel it coming because I've played way more matches than I usually do before a slam.

"I just wanted to try that to see the rhythm, you know? Obviously, it worked out well. But I think I probably won't do that again. But yeah, I would say it was like an accumulation of playing two weeks straight without a day off."

In a Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, Osaka had retired from the final — against Muchova — because of a foot injury.

The Japanese player — who took mental-health breaks starting in 2021 and was away from the tour while having a daughter — was asked if she had an ankle issue.

She did say, however, that she has "plantar fasciitis on my feet. Well, that's what we assume it is".

"It kind of started happening off-season last year," Osaka said.

"I feel like maybe it's because I'm a lot more springy on my toes. I think it reactivated on grass court because I'm pushing off a lot more to go forward. I don't think it will bother me on hard court. I'm thinking it was maybe just the surface change."

Osaka has won two of her four major titles (2018 and 2020) at the US Open, and she made it back to the semifinals at Flushing Meadows last year, losing to Amanda Anisimo