“To be honest with you, I've been heckled before and it didn't really bother me,” she told a tearful crowd after her loss, “but then I got heckled here and then I watched the video of Venus and Serena (Williams) getting heckled here, and if you haven't seen it, you should. I don't know why, but it just stuck in my mind.”
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From that moment on, she said in her 2022 cover story, she started going to therapy regularly. Deciding to support your mental health (and finding someone you actually get along with) can be a struggle, something Osaka fully acknowledges. “I'm so happy that I was able to find the right person who really understands me,” she said. “It can help anyone in some way. It doesn't mean you're broken.”
Her self-care routine centers around meditation and journaling.
In addition to getting professional support, Osaka said in her SELF cover story that “it helps me to reflect on my day and write down what I want to accomplish each day.” To boost her mood, she makes a conscious effort to put her phone down and make time for slower hobbies outside of tennis, like gaming. (She says her favorite games include Fortnite, Overwatch, Apex Legends and The Elder Scrolls.)
Another important (and very cute) presence that lifts her spirits is her French bulldog, Butta. “He's a huge source of comfort for me. When I pick him up, he's just a big baby,” she says with delight. “He's such a great cuddler. I love that about him.”
Her mental health break “really enhanced my love for the sport.”
Osaka did not compete in the 2023 U.S. Open but made an appearance at Flushing Meadows, this time participating in a panel on mental health with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy.
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During the discussion, Osaka shared her perspective on admitting when you're not okay: “Growing up, I was told to be patient, that athletes were supposed to be patient, and that if you showed your emotions, you were considered weak… So that was a huge internal struggle,” she said.
Now, the tennis star is comfortable asking for help from friends and sticking to her boundaries, and says she never imagined she'd be able to play the mentally taxing sport that Serena and Venus Williams play for so long — but taking time off to care for herself has led her to rethink her career path.
“I thought, 'Maybe, never, I'll ever play at their age,' but then I'm sitting here and I'm like, 'No, hey, I could do it,'” she told The Associated Press. “I don't think you can predict what you're going to do. I never could, but it's made me appreciate a lot of the things that I used to take for granted.”
Recently, she said she was in a good mental state.
If you've noticed Osaka's name not on the WTA tournament schedule over the past year, that's because she's been 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, and shared an update that her recovery was going well.
“I don't know why, but I woke up feeling very calm today,” Osaka told reporters. “No matter what happens on the court, I feel like nothing changes off the court. For example, my daughter still loves me. I have a lot of people around me… I hope that spirit continues.”
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