Naomi Osaka became a tennis superstar at a very young age, and it was a bit daunting, but by now, the Japanese player has grown past that.
Osaka hasn't played a lot of tennis over the past two years. Last year, she was away due to being pregnant and working on her comeback, and the year before, she had to deal with mental health problems.
Stepping away from the sport certainly helped the Japanese player, but maturing as a person also greatly helped. Now it's time to get back to tennis, and she's excited about it.
Ahead of her return to the Australian Open, Osaka sat down with Glamour to discuss her new mentality. She's not as insecure about herself as in the past and simply doesn't care what people think of her anymore. She's just going to do her own thing.
"It’s weird because I’ve lived most of my life, I guess, listening to my parents or always feeling the pressure of wanting to make them proud or make other people proud. And I don’t know when it happened, but I just started wanting to do things for myself. It’s a growing-up moment."
Becoming a mother certainly played a part in that. She's now got another person to look out for, besides herself, and it also motivates her. Part of her motivation for tennis also comes from being a mother because she wants to be a role model for her daughter. She just feels really strong since becoming a mother.
"I feel so strong. People talk about childbirth, but it’s different once you experience it. I just feel like I can do anything and nothing will bother me, and the pain tolerance has definitely increased a lot from that. I just don’t really care about other people’s opinions anymore."
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