Naomi Osaka's struggles with mental health have been well documented in recent years, and the Japanese player hopes to support others with similar concerns following the launch of her digital meditation class.
Osaka's personal turmoil has often overlapped with her tennis career as she refused to do press conferences and later withdrew from the 2021 Roland Garros. Throughout a tumultuous 2021 campaign, Osaka continued to struggle with the pressure, leading to problems with anxiety and depression.
After taking personal time off following the 2022 US Open, Osaka returned to tennis in 2022, and she was in action at the Madrid Open recently, where she lost in round two against Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Just one day after the loss, in Madrid, Osaka announced the release of her meditation recordings via the Modern Health Community, which the four-time Grand Slam winner hopes will support others with mental health difficulties.
"Around this time last year I got introduced to the term mental health. My whole life all I knew was to keep my head down and if something’s bothering me just deal with it internally no matter how bad it was."
"Thankfully the world has evolved a lot and recently I’ve been lucky enough to find great tools that are helping me on my journey, so I want to use the experience I’ve gained so far to help as many people as I can."
Osaka has become one of the biggest ambassadors for mental health in women's tennis following her internal challenges in 2021 and 2022.
In April this year, the former world number one also hit back on social media at people who were hoping to see her fail in professional tennis, while thanking those who have stuck by her.
Ultimately, the two-time US Open champion seems to be finding more positivity, which has led to improved tennis and a run to the 2022 Miami Open final, in which she lost to eventual winner Iga Swiatek.
Still, Osaka appears determined to succeed in removing the difficulty of opening up about mental health, which she hopes to achieve with her new meditation guides online.
"I’m really excited and honored to be working with Modern Health to raise awareness and destigmatize the mental health space. Thank every one of you that has helped me on my journey and Modern Health for giving me a space to make an impact in an area that I feel is so important."
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