Naomi Osaka compares herself to terrifying Anime series protagonist in hilarious word of warning to opponents after Miami Open heartbreak

Naomi Osaka amusingly compared herself to a popular anime protagonist, sending a hilarious word of warning to her opponents. The Japanese was recently competing at the 2025 Miami Open, where her run was ended by sixth seed Jasmine Paolini, who came back from a set down to clinch the victory.

Tennis is seeing a rise in the trend where players bring notebooks to their matches and read or write in them during the changeovers or medical timeouts. While players like Mirra Andreeva and Zizou Bergs may have just started recently, Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka's habit is well-known among tennis fans.

The Japanese hilariously joked about what she was actually writing about in her journal. Osaka shared an image of Light Yagami, the protagonist of the superhit Shonen Jump manga Death Note and hilariously wrote:

"Me on the inside when I have to whip out the notebook on court," Osaka wrote.

To those unversed, the Death Note is a supernatural book that gives its users the power to kill any human they want to, just by writing their name into the book.

Via Naomi Osaka’s INSTAGRAM story.

Osaka had a phenomenal start to her 2025 campaign, reaching the final of the 2025 ASB Classic, however, she had to retire mid-match due to an abdominal injury. She then again retired mid-match during her third-round match against Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open, following which she decided to recover herself to 100% before entering the courts again.

After her break, the 27-year-old made her return at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells but suffered an opening-round exit to Camila Osorio in straight sets. She headed to the Miami Open, where she defeated the likes of Yulia Starodubtseva, Liudmila Samsonova and Hailey Baptiste, but her run was ended 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 by Jasmine Paolini in the fourth round.

Osaka's coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, penned a heartfelt message for the Japanese following her Miami Open heartbreak.

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"You did good" - Naomi Osaka's coach Patrick Mouratoglou on her Miami Open heartbreak

Miami Open Presented by Itau 2025 - Day 7 - Source: Getty

Following her Miami Open exit, Naomi Osaka shared some highlights from her time at the tournament on Instagram, including an image of her writing something in her notebook.

"Miami I love you so much thank you for the energy and the memories, I’ll be back sooner than you think," she wrote on her Instagram.

Naomi Osaka's coach Patrick Mouratoglou commented on her post with an encouraging message.

"It was a high level match. You did good. Soon you will do great," he said.

Though Osaka and Mouratoglou have had some good runs in tournaments, she is yet to win a title under his tutelage. Her last title triumph came at the 2021 Australian Open, meaning she hasn't won a title in over four years.