By Anna Armstrong

This past summer, the world watched as women’s professional tennis player Naomi Osaka developed her public image from a sports legend into an advocate for mental health. At the young age of sixteen, Osaka gained prominence in the sports world for her outstanding talent on the tennis court. She went on to win four Grand Slam singles championships and seven titles on the WTA Tour. Osaka earned the honor of being ranked the number one professional women’s tennis player in the world on January 28, 2019. However, just a little over two years later, Osaka would struggle beneath this immense pressure, which came hand-in-hand with her great success.

Osaka’s composure first began to unfold at the 2021 French Open. After her first-round victory, Osaka decided to skip the subsequent press conference, a sacred ritual of the Grand Slam events, which resulted in a $15,000 fine from the International Tennis Federation and threats of disqualification or suspension for avoiding the media from all four Grand Slam tournaments.

Naomi Osaka in her first round match against Jelena Ostapenko. Photo credit: Flikr user Carine06.

This pressure from the traditional style of tennis media led Osaka to withdraw from the French Open in an effort “to preserve her mental health,” according to USA Today. Osaka also revealed to the newspaper that she experienced anxiety speaking with the media and has suffered bouts of depression. Osaka further told USA Today that by dropping out of the French Open, “the intention was never to inspire revolt, but rather to look critically at our workplace and ask if we can do better.”

Osaka continued to speak out against the harsh environment of the tennis world by writing an article that was published by Time on July 8, titled, “It’s O.K. to not be O.K.”. Osaka admitted she learned two lessons by coming forward about her mental health struggles: “you can never please everyone,” and “literally everyone either suffers from issues related to their mental health or knows someone who does.”

While in her article Osaka presented her opinions on how to improve the mental health status of professional athletes, she emphasized she does not speak for the tennis community as a whole. Osaka suggested “a small number of ‘sick days’ per year where you are excused from your press commitments without having to disclose your personal reasons,” claiming “this would bring sports in line with the rest of society.”

While Osaka’s actions at Roland Garros offended many tennis media traditionalists who honor the post-match press conferences, Osaka admits in her Time article, “I can’t imagine another profession where a consistent attendance record would be so harshly scrutinized (I missed one press conference in my seven years on tour).”

Osaka concludes her article in Time by demonstrating the support she received from fellow athletes. Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps told her “that by speaking up [she] may have saved a life.”

Osaka continued to receive both praise and criticism from around the world. Osaka was honored by her home country Japan when she was given the opportunity to light the cauldron at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. Christopher Clarey of The New York Times exclaimed, “Osaka is the world’s highest-paid female athlete, one of the biggest celebrities in sports, and a quiet, powerful embodiment of a new generation of athletes who are unafraid to share their views on civil rights and social justice.”

Osaka lighting the cauldron at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Photo credit: Secretaría de Deportes.

However, British right-wing broadcaster Piers Morgan was far more critical, as he called Osaka “narcissistic” and “an arrogant spoiled brat whose fame and fortune appears to have inflated her ego to gigantic proportions.” Another British sportswriter, Oliver Brown, accused Osaka of “diva behavior.” According to The New York Times, Osaka even faced criticism from within her home country, as “mental health is still something of a taboo subject in Japan.” This judgment did not make Osaka’s return to the tennis court easy, but after skipping Wimbledon, Osaka returned for the Olympics, where she lost in the third round and did not win a medal.

After the most recent Grand Slam, the US Open in September, Osaka continued to battle prevailing mental health issues. Only a year after winning the 2020 US Open, Osaka lost last month in three close sets during the third round to unranked 18-year-old Leylah Fernadez from Canada. Osaka did not hide her frustration during the match, as she took hold of the ball and smacked it high into the stands, receiving a code-of-conduct warning for ball abuse.

Later Osaka apologized, saying “I’m really sorry about that… I was telling myself to be calm, but I feel like maybe there was a boiling point. Normally I feel like I like challenges, but recently I feel very anxious when things don’t go my way, and I feel like you can feel that. I’m not really sure why it happens the way it happens now.” After Osaka’s most recent loss at the US Open, she told The New York Times “I honestly don’t know when I’m going to play my next tennis match.”

The stress Osaka felt at the US Open and other major tournaments extends beyond just the professional level, as Collegiate varsity tennis players Claiborne Dillard (‘23) and Sarah Beth Neese (‘23) both share similar pressures when on the court.

Dillard says that “as a player, most of the pressure comes from myself. The pressure to play my best, the pressure to make sure I don’t let my teammates down, and so I don’t let myself down is the toughest part of playing tennis.” Neese shares this sentiment by claiming that, “mainly this pressure comes from myself, my parents, and my teammates.”

When asked about the stress during matches versus the pressure to perform well at practice, Neese admits that “during practice the pressure is still present, just not as amplified as in a match.” Dillard also mentioned how outside factors can intensify this stress. “If an opponent is antagonizing you and trying to make you get in your head, or when spectators cheer when you make a mistake, it makes it really hard to focus on playing. It takes a lot more effort to stay focused and try your best.”

Neese gives insight on how she manages her mentality while on the court by “finding times in between matches or even points to take some deep breaths and focusing on the now, rather than worrying about the result of the match or having perfect shots.”

These experiences at the high school level demonstrate that the stress Osaka feels is a general factor of tennis that many players share. This pressure is not only found on the tennis court but can be considered a common trend in the sports world on all levels. While the pressure of sports can be considered normal and even at times beneficial in producing adrenaline, thus improving an athlete’s performance, when does this stress become too much to handle? Osaka’s decision to prioritize her mental health opened the door for a conversation about the pressure all athletes face and how society can aim to improve these stressful conditions.