Mental health has become an even more relevant issue since Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka opened Pandora’s box on the eve of the Roland Garros 2021. A topic that for too long had passed in silence and which, thanks to Naomi’s courage, it has exploded, becoming public knowledge, and perhaps helping many people who suffer from it to find some solution.
The popularity of the young Japanese was fundamental for the global awareness of this issue which is very expensive and very complex to deal with. Of course, since then, Naomi’s career has stalled, but showing her fragility has been her true strength.
The point after which to restart her incredible career. Of course, it was certainly not a 2022 to remember for Naomi Osaka that she failed to triumph in any tournament in which she took part. In fact, the Japanese is in 41st place in the world rankings, a far cry from the golden years that had seen her excel in the Slams and consequently lead the women’s rankings.
In 2021, after refusing to attend the post-race press conference at the Roland Garros due to mental health issues, she later decided not to take part in interviews anymore.
Naomi Osaka’s fragility is her true strength
She returned to speaking to the media on a show last week and has now instead posted a thought of herself on Net-A-Porter talking about how difficult it was for her to deal with the press after losing a game.
Naomi told: One of the hardest parts was, right after a loss, going to the press room and talking to the media, answering questions about why I had played badly or what I could have done better, and being asked how it feels to just lost the game.
Neither of these conversations are pleasant, but especially not after a loss. It’s like pouring salt into a wound.” The four-time Grand Slam champion went on to add that she realized she needed to set a new metric for success, because relying on the outcome of a match was affecting both her mental health and her love for the sport.
She added: “The weight of one match result made me realize I had to step back and create a new metric for success, because hyper-fixation on wins and losses hurt my mental health and my love.” for the game.” Naomi Osaka, among other things, was the first Asian in history to have reached the primacy of the WTA world rankings.
