In the modern era where most of the world’s top athletes do not shy away from giving a glimpse into their lives through the active use of social media, Naomi Osaka is somewhat an oddity.
The Japanese-born American tennis star’s posts to her 1.1 million followers on X are few and far between. However, on the not-so-frequent occasions when she puts her inner thoughts out for the wider world’s consumption, the written word speaks a lot about her state of mind.
On December 15 2023, for instance, she posted a note on her social media handles thanking people for believing in her, putting up with her and “allowing me to grow up on my own time”. She added: “I know we’ve shared some really amazing memories and I also know that I’ve done some things that I wish I would’ve handled differently (lol).” Osaka signed off conveying her excitement of setting foot on “chapter 2 of this tennis journey”.
That chapter 2 has begun on a promising note. The four-time Grand Slam champion returned to professional tennis after 15 months beating Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch 6-3, 7-6(9) in the first round of the WTA Brisbane International on Monday. It marked the 26-year-old’s first match since September 2022, and her first victory in a completed match since August 2022.
These are baby steps in the former world No. 1’s quest to get back to her top level. Yet the fact that Osaka is walking down the path again itself is noteworthy.
Over the last three years after she scaled the rankings peak in 2019, Osaka has missed more tennis than she has played. Injuries and the Covid pandemic form only a small part of the reason. The major ones range from Osaka prioritising her mental health over the sport, not finding joy in playing tennis and becoming a mother.
It’s in that order that things unravelled for Osaka into a patchy, stop-start ride from 2021, the year she last won a Slam at the Australian Open.
She pulled out after winning her first round at the 2021 French Open citing mental health issues. She returned for the Tokyo Olympics but took another break from the sport later that year because winning did not make her happy anymore. The seven-time WTA titlist did not win a lot in 2022 either, making just one final in April and unable to string two straight wins thereafter before ending her season with a withdrawal from the second round of Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in September.
In January last year, Osaka announced she was pregnant through a social media post accompanied by another frank note. “These few months away from the sport has given me a new love and appreciation for the game I’ve dedicated my life to,” she wrote, while also stating her intentions of returning for the 2024 Australian Open.
Motherhood has, in more ways than one, turned the page in Osaka’s second chapter in tennis. She wants her daughter — born in July 2023 — to watch one of her matches and go: “that’s my mom”. She has rekindled her love for the sport and wants to return the love that people have shown her on court. Perhaps more significantly for Osaka, it has shattered the mental wall she had built around herself.
“I feel like I’m more confident with who I am as a person,” Osaka said in Brisbane. “I never tried to have conversations with other players before, and I think I definitely put a large wall up. Now I find myself interacting with people. It’s just really cool.”
Equally cool for the women’s game is Osaka’s return. With Ash Barty’s retirement in 2022 and Iga Swiatek’s dominance running into worthy challengers in Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina last year, Osaka’s presence could add a fresh dimension. Given that she comes with a four-Slam winning pedigree and that her game — some of Osaka’s forehand winners on Monday were on point — can topple any name including the ‘now-evolved’ Serena Williams.
Add mental comfort and confidence to it and watch out for Osaka in her “chapter 2”.