After Surviving a Strenuous Mental Health Battle, Naomi Osaka Firmly Defends Her Controversial Career Choice – ‘Pouring Salt Into a Wound’

The Japanese tennis star, Naomi Osaka, has received accolades for her tenacious and commanding displays on the court.  Osaka established a name for herself at a very young age with her four Grand Slam singles victories. With her sheer brilliance on the court, she has defeated some of the greatest players on the WTA like Serena Williams. However, off the court, the former Australian Open champion has struggled with her mental health issues.

Notably, Osaka has recently opened up about her mental health issues in a personal essay. The former World No 1 went on to say that basing her success exclusively on victories and defeats was bad for her mental health. The 4-time singles Grand Slam champion further revealed that she found it distressing to talk to the media following defeats on the tour.

Naomi Osaka recently talked about her mental health issues in a personal essay

Prior to the French Open 2021, the former No 1 tennis player earlier stated she would not be holding press conferences following matches. The 4-time singles Grand Slam champion also pulled out from the Grand Slam event after receiving a lot of backlash. Further explaining her decision, Naomi Osaka said that she wants to concentrate on improving her mental health.

The Japanese tennis star has recently highlighted her mental health issues in a personal essay. Meanwhile, Osaka also revealed how distressing it was to face the media following her defeats in tournaments.  She stated, “None of those conversations are enjoyable, but especially not on the heels of a loss. It’s like pouring salt into a wound.”

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Osaka further opened up about how she has found a new metric for success in her journey. She stated, “The sheer weight of the outcome of a match made me realize I needed to take a step back and create a new metric for success, as hyper-fixating on wins and losses was damaging to my mental health as well as to my love of the game.”

Osaka also talked about using her voice and platform

In the personal essay, the Japanese tennis player also talked about a ‘turning point’  during her tennis journey. Osaka revealed that it was a challenging phase for her during the US Open in 2020 even though she won the tournament. She further opened up about her concerns over the killing of George Floyd that happened prior o the tournament.

Osaka further stated that she felt proud after using her platform to take a stand against the issue. The four-time Grand Slam singles champion added that it changed the way she saw success, which led her to start valuing her actions as much as her victories on the court.

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