“She helped me a lot!” Nick Kyrgios credits Naomi Osaka for helping him in overcoming mental health struggles

“She helped me a lot!” Nick Kyrgios credits Naomi Osaka for helping him in overcoming mental health struggles

Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion has been on the losing side since her title win at the Australian Open in 2021 and even failed to defend her title this year facing a third-round exit against Amanda Anisimova. She even had a shocking exit at the French Open in straight against the same opponent in Australia. She has been looking to get back to winning ways and the best performance of the season has been at the Miami Open where she lost in the finals to World no 1 Iga Swiatek. Since then, she has failed to make her way past the fourth rounds of the WTA tournaments.

The Japanese star had a tough time at the French Open in 2021 when she opened up about her mental health struggles which had been bothering her very much and even denied going for interviews. She was even fined for her actions still she kept her stance. She has been vocal since then about giving equal importance to mental health as much as physical fitness and should be discussed openly since mind and body go hand-in-hand for a better living.

She had to skip the 2022 Wimbledon Championship due to her Achillies injury which kept her out of action for months. She had started off the hard-court season with a great win at the Mudabala Silicon Valley Classic but soon faced defeat in the second round. She had another setback when she had to hand a walkover at the Canadian Open to Kaia Kanepi due to her back injury which restrained her from playing her best even after getting medical assistance. Her third loss came after she failed to go past the first round at the Western & Southern Open with another disappointing loss and putting concerns about her inconsistent performance.

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“I wasn’t sure I had the right to feel like that until I met her” Nick Kyrgios on Naomi Osaka helping him to deal with his mental battles

Naomi Osaka

Nick Kyrgios, the Wimbledon 2022 finalist, during an interview, opened up about his struggles with mental health issues and credited Osaka for guiding him to overcome the hard times. He even revealed how tough time it was for him to speak about it and even discuss it with anybody until he met Osaka. He said “I actually struggled with mental health early on and there were times in my tennis career when I was really struggling. I wasn’t sure I had the right to feel like that. And then I met Naomi.“

The Aussie star recalled the times how inspiring and motivating Osaka had been towards him and been a great friend and supporter and thanked the Japanese star for being the first person to speak about such a crucial and sensitive issue. He further added, “We did a podcast together, and she opened up. I deal with messages every day from people reaching out to me and I try to respond to as many people as I can. I think men my age have a really hard time opening up. I can’t feel weak…Naomi helped me a lot on this.“

Naomi Osaka will face Danielle Collins in the first round of the US Open whereas Nick Kyrgios will start his 2022 US Open journey playing against his compatriot and doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis.

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