“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,” said Naomi Osaka in a previous interview. However, the 26-year-old Japanese superstar couldn’t hold her emotions for too long after a horrible incident at the 2022 Indian Wells Masters. Two years later, after that shameful incident, Naomi Osaka reflects on how things have changed a bit nowadays.

During her R64 match against Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova at the 2022 Indian Wells Masters, a heckler shouted at Naomi Osaka, which led her to burst into tears. What did the heckler say to her that time? As per several reports, during her match against Kudermetova, a woman yelled, “Naomi, you s-ck!” Reflecting on this shameful moment inside the stadium, Naomi Osaka revealed that, “It kind of took me out of my element.” Shortly after that incident, she was seen asking the umpire for permission to use the microphone to address the crowd.

However, the umpire denied her request, and she had to wait until the end of her match to make her comments. After getting the mic in her hand, she said, “I just want to say, ‘Thank you,’” in a quivering voice and wiping the tears that rolled down her cheeks. “I feel like I’ve cried enough on camera. I just wanted to say, to be honest, I’ve been heckled before like it didn’t really bother me,” she said at that time. That moment reminded her of Serena and Venus Williams’ similar experiences in the past.

Perhaps that’s what made her more emotional. She recently gave an interview with PEOPLE, where she reflected a bit on that horrifying experience and added that she’s pleased to see the tennis community taking mental health issues “really seriously” in recent years. She’s grateful that “almost all” the tournaments now offer access to “facilities with quiet rooms” and “someone you can talk to on-site 24/7.”

We’ve seen her taking mental health breaks in the past and Naomi Osaka is very much vocal about this issue. She has now also become the Maybelline’s first Brave Together ambassador to encourage awareness around mental health. “I think most people don’t know that mental health is as important as your physical health, and in some ways, it might be more important,” said Osaka in a recent interview with PEOPLE. How did Naomi Osaka manage to overcome all these issues in her life, though?

Naomi Osaka’s impactful weapons to battle out mental health issues in her life

Naomi Osaka now takes the help of several “common practices” like meditation to fight the mental health issues in her life. She even travels with a health coach when she’s on the Tour. Explaining the role of the therapist in this, Osaka added, “I wouldn’t really call her a therapist, but basically she’s someone that helps me with tools that I can use on and off the court.” Tennis is a sport that can reward you with a lot of things. However, the higher the stakes higher the pressure. This can, at times, also become emotionally taxing for the players!

“You have to be really mentally strong to play tennis,” Naomi Osaka said in her 2021 Netflix docuseries. She had once revealed that she isn’t much involved in social media anymore. Reason? “Just because I began to feel like it was very negative, I guess when people started knowing of me more,” said Osaka. So, this is one of the reasons that she has “disconnected” herself from that. We see her wear headphones most of the time during the tournaments when she is off the court. Is there any specific reason behind this?

In reply to this, the Japanese tennis player said that wearing headphones helps her dull her social anxiety. “I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media,” Naomi Osaka. What are the other things that she has taken up to fight the mental health issues?

Well, Osaka says that she has been now making more time for her more leisurely, non-tennis hobbies, like gaming, and she spends time with her French bulldog, Butta. Naomi Osaka has also taken up journaling as a regular part of her self-care routine. Osaka’s struggle with mental health issues was always very challenging, but her determination to win this battle is truly inspiring. What are your thoughts on Naomi Osaka’s journey to become stronger mentally day by day?