Watching a four-time Grand Slam champion like Naomi Osaka dominate the court makes tennis look exciting and rewarding—which it definitely can be. But there’s another side to the grueling sport: It can take a toll on your mental health, a reality that Osaka has been candid about for years.
Sure, professional tennis demands an impressive amount of physical power, agility, and speed. But “you have to be really mentally strong to play tennis,” Osaka said in her 2021 Netflix docuseries, Naomi Osaka. Especially for the sport’s biggest stars, there’s a ton of pressure to perform and maintain a relentless “winner’s mentality”—pressure that can be even more intense for players who’ve achieved historic firsts, like Osaka, who became the first Asian woman to be ranked number one in the world at just 20 years old. And “because [it] is a solo sport, you’re kind of by yourself,” she added.
Osaka first opened up about this struggle in May 2021, after confessing to the world that she dealt with anxiety and depression. Ultimately, her vulnerability and candor sparked widespread discussions about mental health in sports—particularly for athletes of color—and challenged toxic expectations for elite competitors to never appear “weak.”
So in honor of the trailblazer’s highly anticipated return to the US Open next week (as a wild card), we’re diving into everything she’s shared about her mental health journey—including how she’s doing today.
Osaka withdrew from the 2021 French Open to focus on her mental health.
In a polarizing move, the tennis superstar announced she would be skipping post-game interviews at the 2021 French Open. It was a decision she made to protect herself, she said, since invasive questions about how poorly she performed affected her well-being.
“I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one,” she wrote on X at the time. “I’m just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me. I’ve watched many clips of athletes breaking down after a loss in the press room…I believe that whole situation is kicking a person while they’re down.”
She ended up incurring a $15,000 fine. (If you didn’t know, all Grand Slam players are required to participate in media obligations in accordance to article III H. of the International Tennis Federation’s Code of Conduct). And five days later, Osaka officially pulled out from the tournament. “The best thing for the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris,” she wrote in an Instagram statement on May 31. “I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal…More importantly I would never trivialize mental health or use the term lightly.” Osaka added she would be “taking some time away from the court.”
She told the world she’s struggled with “bouts of depression” since 2018.
In the same Instagram post, Osaka publicly revealed for the first time that she’s “suffered long bouts of depression” since her US Open win in 2018.
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“I have had a really hard time coping with that,” she shared. “Anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I’m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety…I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media.” Although Osaka finds press conferences stressful, she said she does try to give journalists the best answers she can.
Osaka admitted she felt “a great amount of pressure” to disclose her symptoms.
Her decision to step back sent shockwaves through the sports world. For the most part, she received an outpouring of love—including from big names like Steph Curry, Meghan Markle, and Novak Djokovic. But there were also some skeptics, including British TV personality Piers Morgan, who criticized her actions as “diva behavior.”
Looking back, Osaka said she’s glad she took that time off to prioritize herself—but she also made it clear that she shouldn’t have had to endure such invasive speculation about her personal medical history.
“I can’t imagine another profession where a consistent attendance record (I have missed one press conference in my seven years on tour) would be so harshly scrutinized,” Osaka wrote in a Time essay published in 2021. “In my case, I felt under a great amount of pressure to disclose my symptoms—frankly because the press and the tournament did not believe me.” In the future, she said she hopes to see more measures put in place to protect athletes’ peace and offer them more privacy.
She even questioned her future in tennis.
Tennis can be full of surprises, even for a seasoned champ like Osaka. At the 2021 US Open, she shockingly lost in the third round to unseeded 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez (who made it to the finals), after which Osaka announced she’d be taking an “indefinite break.”
“Normally I feel like I like challenges. But recently I feel very anxious when things don’t go my way, and…I’m not really sure why it happens the way it happens now,” Osaka explained in the post-game press conference. She added that she’s “dealing with some stuff,” and without getting into the specifics, tearfully admitted to questioning her future on the court: “I’m kind of at this point where I’m trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don’t know when I’m going to play my next tennis match. Sorry.”
Eventually, she started working with a therapist.
One major wake-up call for seeking help, she said, came via an incident at the Indian Wells Open in 2022: Her confidence took a hit when a heckler yelled, “Naomi, you suck!”
“To be honest, I’ve gotten heckled before, it didn’t really bother me,” she tearfully told the crowd following her defeat. “But [being] heckled here, I watched a video of Venus and Serena [Williams] getting heckled here, and if you’ve never watched it, you should watch it. I don’t know why, but it went into my head.”
Since that moment, she told SELF for a 2022 cover story that she started consistently going to therapy. Deciding to support your mental health (then finding someone you actually click with) can be daunting, which Osaka fully acknowledged. “I’m super happy that I found the right person who really understands me,” she said. “It can be helpful to everyone in some shape or form…it doesn’t mean you are broken.”
Her self-care routine centers around meditation and journaling.
On top of getting professional support, Osaka finds it helpful to “reflect on the day or…write down what I want to achieve in the day,” she said in SELF’s cover story. To boost her mood, she’s intentional about putting her phone down and making time for her more leisurely, non-tennis hobbies, like gaming. (Her favorite games, she said, include Fortnite, Overwatch, Apex Legends, and the Elder Scrolls.)
Another key (and super cute) player in lifting her spirits? Her French bulldog, Butta. “He’s a big source of comfort for me. Whenever you pick him up, he just becomes a big baby,” she gushed. “He’s really good at cuddling. I really love that about him.”
Her mental health breaks “really raised my love for the sport.”
While Osaka didn’t compete at the 2023 US Open, she still made an appearance at Flushing Meadows—this time, joining a mental health panel with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy.
During this discussion, Osaka shared her perspective on admitting when she’s not okay. “Growing up, I was told to tough it out, and I was in my head thinking athletes are supposed to stick it out and you’re actually weak if you show your emotions…so it was a very big internal battle,” she said.
Now the tennis star is comfortable asking for help from friends and protecting her boundaries. She also said she never could have imagined playing such a mentally taxing sport for as long as Serena and Venus Williams. However, taking a hiatus to tend to herself inspired her to reconsider her career path.
“I was thinking, I probably, no way, will ever play at their age. But sitting here, I’m like, No, you know what? I might do that,” she said, per reporting from the Associated Press. “I don’t think I can predict what I’ll do—I never am able to do that—but it definitely made me appreciate a lot of things that I took for granted.”
Recently she said she’s in a good place mentally.
If you noticed Osaka’s name missing from the WTA tournament schedule for the past year, that’s because she was on maternity leave. (She and her partner, rapper Cordae, welcomed their first child, Shai, in July 2023). The 26-year-old returned to the tour in May for the 2024 Italian Open, sharing an update that she’s doing well.
“I don’t know why, but today I just woke up very peaceful,” Osaka told reporters. “I just feel like, no matter what happens on the court, nothing will change for me off the court. Like, my daughter will still love me. I have so many people around me…I hope that mentality stays and continues.”
Related:
- Naomi Osaka Argues for the Right to Take a Mental Health Day
- 3 Trans Athletes on Why Being Excluded From Women’s Sports Is So Devastating
- All the Reasons to Stan Coco Gauff—Even If You Don’t Watch Tennis
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