sport news Naomi Osaka's Australian Open title defence ends with shock early exit ...

The latest stage of Naomi Osaka’s complex tennis journey will see her drop to below a ranking of 80, abruptly going from a leading role into the chorus line.

Her relegation was sealed by the enormous loss of ranking points that comes with foregoing her Australian Open title, after she was knocked out in the third round by America’s Amanda Anisimova.

Osaka will be in good company when it comes to multiple Grand Slam champions vanishing from the higher echelons of the computer.

Melbourne absentee Serena Williams will be close to 250 after this fortnight and her sister Venus outside 400 — those who hand out tournament wildcards could be busy, assuming the players are intent on carrying on and asking for them.

Osaka, 24, was in phlegmatic mood following a tight and often high-quality match that saw her go down 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 to the world No 60, losing a deciding champions’ tiebreak 10-5.

The Japanese player, whose mammoth endorsement deals now massively outstrip her ranking status, has not managed to string together more than three consecutive wins since lifting the trophy a year ago.

There have been long periods of introspection as she has tried to work out ways of processing defeats and handling life on an unforgiving circuit.

‘I fought for every point. I can’t be sad about that,’ she said. ‘You know, I can’t win every match, so I just have to take that into account and know that it would be nice to win the tournament.

‘I can’t think of myself trying to win the Grand Slam at the start of the year every time.’

It was back at the French Open last year that Osaka revealed that she had been suffering bouts of depression, something that emerged after a furore sparked by objections she raised to doing post-match media duties.