<p>A philosophical Naomi Osaka said on Friday she &ldquo;is not God&rdquo; and cannot always win after the defending champion was knocked out of the Australian Open in the third round by unseeded Amanda Anisimova.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Japanese four-time Grand Slam champion won the first set on Margaret Court Arena but the nerveless American saved two match points in the third to pull off a huge 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10/5) upset.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img title="Amanda Anisimova" src="http://origin.mid-day.com/images/2022/jan/osaka-jan-twnety-two-b_e.jpg" alt="Amanda Anisimova" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Amanda Anisimova</em></strong></p>
<p>Osaka was making her return to Grand Slam tennis after a long break following a tearful third-round exit at the US Open in September, the culmination of a difficult year where she was plagued by doubt and said she suffered depression.&nbsp;</p>
<p>She said ahead of the Australian Open that her goal for 2022 was to have more fun and she attempted to remain upbeat even after her title defence came to a premature end.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>&lsquo;I fought for every point&rsquo;</h2>
<p>&ldquo;I fought for every point, I can&rsquo;t be sad about that,&rdquo; the former World No.1, who was seeded 13th, said. &ldquo;You know, I&rsquo;m not God. I can&rsquo;t win every match. So I just have to take that into account and know that it would be nice to win the tournament, that&rsquo;s really special, and I can&rsquo;t think of myself to try to win the Grand Slam at the start of the year every time. I feel like I grew a lot in this match. The last match that I played in New York [US Open] I think I had a completely different attitude, so of course I lost, but I&rsquo;m happy with how it went.&rdquo; Defeat to Anisimova deprived the Osaka, 24, of a shot at World No.1 Ashleigh Barty in the fourth round.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Record intact for Barty</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, top seed Barty kept her unblemished record this year intact with a straight-sets demolition on Friday of Camila Giorgi to set up a fourth-round clash with American giant-killer Anisimova. Barty is now 7-0 for the season after winning the Adelaide International and has yet to drop a set, easing past the Italian 30th seed 6-2, 6-3 on Rod Laver Arena.</p>
<p>Rafael Nadal dropped a set for the first time at this year&rsquo;s Australian Open but played his best match since injury to overcome Karen Khachanov and steam into the fourth round on Friday.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The 20-time Grand Slam champion Nadal won 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 in 2hr 50min in a late night match on Rod Laver Arena. World No.3 Alexander Zverev powered his way into the Last 16 of the Australian Open with a superb serving display against Moldova&rsquo;s Radu Albot on Friday.</p>
<p>The powerful German Tokyo Olympic gold medallist thundered down 16 aces and won 83 percent of his first serve points to put away the 124th-ranked Albot, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in 1hr 57min in hot conditions on John Cain Arena.</p>
<h2>Berrettini wins thriller</h2>
<p>Italian seventh seed Matteo Berrettini fought off exciting Spanish youngster Carlos Alcaraz and the effects of a heavy tumble to win a fifth-set tiebreaker and advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open on Friday. Berrettini, a Wimbledon finalist last year, used all of his experience to down Alcaraz, 18, the youngest man in the draw, 6-2, 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (10/5) in 4hr 10min on Rod Laver Arena.</p>
<p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever</em></span></p><p>
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Defending champ Naomi says she can’t win every match after shock 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (5-10) defeat to Anisimova; Nadal, Zverev advance to Rd 4

I’m not God: Naomi Osaka

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I’m not God: Naomi Osaka

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