"None of those conversations are enjoyable, it’s like pouring salt into a wound" - Naomi Osaka on how difficult it was to face the press after losses
Japanese tennis sensation Naomi Osaka withdrew from the 2021 French Open after being fined for her decision not to speak to the press during the tournament.
Osaka refused to participate in post-match interviews citing mental health concerns and recently described what those situations felt like.
The 25-year-old rose to fame after defeating tennis legend Serena Williams to win her first Grand Slam title at the 2018 US Open. Following that, Osaka went on to win three more Major titles and became the World No. 1 in the process. She was even regarded as the successor to the 23-time Grand Slam champion's throne on the WTA tour.
However, Osaka's 2022 season has been underwhelming. Her streak of winning at least one Grand Slam every year since 2018 came to an end, and she is yet to win any title this year. Consequently, her ranking has fallen significantly as well.
Naomi Osaka, who has been vocal about mental health difficulties, recently wrote an essay on Net-A-Porter about how tough it was for her to face the press after losing a match.
"One of the most difficult parts was, directly following a defeat, to have to go into the press room and talk to the media, answering questions about why I played poorly or what I could have done better, and to be asked, ‘How does it feel?’ to have just lost the match. None of those conversations are enjoyable, but especially not on the heels of a loss. It’s like pouring salt into a wound," Osaka wrote.
The four-time Grand Slam champion went on to say that she understood she needed to establish a new "metric" for success because relying on the outcome of a match was affecting both her "mental health" and her "love" of tennis.
"The sheer weight of the outcome of a match made me realize I needed to take a step back and create a new metric for success, as hyper-fixating on wins and losses was damaging to my mental health as well as to my love of the game," she added.
How did Naomi Osaka fare at the Grand Slams this season?
Naomi Osaka was the defending champion at the Australian Open, the year's first Grand Slam. She was seeded 13th in the tournament, but her run was cut short in the third round by Amanda Anisimova in three sets.
The Japanese was defeated at the French Open by Anisimova again, and she did not play at Wimbledon since there were no ranking points for the winner due to the tournament's ban on Russian and Belarussian players as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The former World No. 1 then competed in the US Open, but home favorite Danielle Collins eliminated her in the first round.