(Provided by Tennis World USA)
Naomi Osaka reveals she first realized there was something wrong after she won Indian Wells in 2018 and felt “really depressed” afterward. Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, opened up about her battle with depression and anxiety during the 2021 French Open.
During an appearance on the Mountaintop Conversations podcast, Osaka was asked when she realized she was dealing with a mental health issue. Answering the question, Osaka revealed she didn’t feel really well after winning her first WTA title at a WTA 1000 event in 2018 Indian Wells.
Then, Osaka had the same feeling after she won her third Grand Slam title at the 2020 US Open. The same happened after Osaka won the 2021 Australian Open and that’s when the Japanese decided to do something about it.
Osaka on when she realized she was struggling with something
“I actually didn’t know what mental health was.
Growing up, no one was really talking about it. I think honestly the first time I heard about it was after I pulled out from the French Open. It’s not like I had a dark childhood or anything, it’s just that everything was so focused on tennis.
The first moment that I felt really depressed and sad was after I won Indian Wells for the first time. It happened again when I won the [2020] US Open. And Beijing. I was in China and I was hoping it would go away and I was crying on the court.
It got to a point after I won the Australian Open for the second time [in 2021], I felt I needed to do something about it because I don’t want to keep living this way. I thought to myself, I don’t know what this feeling is, I don’t know how to describe it and I don’t know how to fix it so I guess I’m going to have to live with it for the rest of my life,” Osaka said on the Mountaintop Conversations podcast, via Sportskeeda.
