“I’ve had a really weird year,” Naomi Osaka reflects on her struggles with mental health
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Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka is undoubtedly one of the most promising tennis players on tour. The Japanese has established herself as one of the standout players on tour, following her rise to fame in just about three years. The 23-year-old has claimed four Grandslam titles so far, with the latest one being in Melbourne, earlier this year.
However, despite her outstanding performances on court, Osaka struggles to deal with her mental health. Mental health is something that plagues many athletes, but not many are so brave and courageous, to speak up on it openly.
Naomi Osaka had withdrawn from the French Open 2021 a few months ago, after a huge controversy regarding her boycott of the press conferences gained attention. Moreover, she decided to skip the grass court season, and focus on her mental health.
Waking up in the morning is a win: Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka returned to action at the Cincinnati Open this week, as she aims to go a step further than last time around. Last year, she had to withdraw from the finals against Victoria Azarenka due to an injury. She got off to a bright start this year, defeating the highly rated American, Coco Gauff in three sets.
The world number two lost the first set to the teenager, but came back in style to win the next two sets, and storm into the last 16. After her victory, Osaka stated that she had been through a lot in the preceding year, and with all that has been going around in the world, waking up every day was a win in itself.
“I’ve had a really weird year. I think some of you know what happened to me this year. I changed my mindset a lot. Even if I lost I would have felt that I’m a winner. There’s so much stuff going on in the world…. just waking up in the morning is a win,” said Osaka.
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Nirmit Mehta
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