Naomi Osaka Says Stressful World Might Have Increased Anxiety

Naomi Osaka remained the image of calm answering questions on Wednesday after staging a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback victory over Coco Gauff to succeed in the third spherical of the WTA Cincinnati Masters. The shy Japanese second seed’s anxiousness over attending compulsory post-match media conferences was nowhere in proof as she defined doable causes for her emotional disaster, which erupted three months in the past when she withdrew after taking part in one match at Roland Garros. She stated that talking with reporters was damaging her psychological well being.

“With the whole lot occurring in Haiti (her father’s homeland) and Afghanistan, issues are actually loopy,” the four-time Grand Slam winner stated.

“It is loopy for me to be within the US hitting a tennis ball and folks come and watch me play.”

Osaka, who grew up in New York, sounded as if she is making an attempt to come back to grips with the psychological points that had been bothering her not too long ago, ones that despatched her away from the sport from Paris till the Tokyo Olympics final month.

That is her first occasion since she went out within the third spherical on the Video games.

“I ponder what affected me a lot and made me not need to do media. (Perhaps) I used to be petrified of dangerous headlines (if she misplaced),” she stated.

“I ought to really feel like I am profitable (in life), having individuals come to look at me is an accomplishment.

“However that began not being an accomplishment for me — I used to be ungrateful.”

Osaka stated dealing with COVID-19 may additionally have been an element.

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“Among the stress might have come from residing in Covid (tennis) bubbles and never seeing (exterior) individuals,” she stated.

The difficulty flared once more this week in her first Cincinnati information convention, with an easy question inflicting her to burst into tears earlier than composing herself and getting by the session.