Naomi Osaka has spoken bravely about mental health on several occasions, but the Japanese star admits she is still learning how to handle unpleasant content on social media.
Osaka returned to the sport at the start of this year after being on maternity leave. She was met with much positivity from thousands of fans worldwide who love watching her blistering style of tennis.
Unfortunately, there are also hateful accounts on social media that wait for players to go through challenging moments, which were always going to happen to Osaka after being away from the sport for so long.
There have been flashes of her past brilliance this season. The most pertinent example was her extraordinary French Open second-round match with four-time champion Iga Swiatek, which she lost after holding a match point.
Despite the heartbreaking nature of that defeat, her performance still demonstrated how good the 26-year-old can be when she finds her game, but Osaka has suffered from inconsistency since making her comeback.
The four-time Grand Slam champion demonstrated some positive signs at the China Open. She reached the round of 16 of the penultimate WTA 1000 tournament of the season and then won the first set against Coco Gauff.
Osaka's momentum was then stalled when she had to retire with a back injury after the second set against Gauff. That same problem forced the two-time US Open champion to withdraw from her home tournament at the Japan Championships.
Those unfortunate moments are when haters on social media appear. One pathetic account accused Osaka of being a fluke, something the former world No. 1 chose to respond to and mock.
Whether that is the right approach is a debated issue, and Osaka admits that handling the negativity on social media is something she is still figuring out despite playing so many professional matches.
"I would say that I'm not as involved in social media anymore, just because I began to feel like it was very negative, I guess when people started knowing of me more. So I kind of disconnected myself from that. I know that social media in a way is a little bit unavoidable, so I think that I'm still learning."
Osaka is also open about the fact she travels with a mental health coach to help her at tournaments, although she did not want to use the term therapist to describe the person's role when talking to PEOPLE.
"I wouldn't really call her a therapist, but basically she's someone that helps me with tools that I can use on and off the court,"
The Japanese star has also considered how to talk to her daughter Shai about mental health when she gets older, saying the biggest thing she wants is for her daughter to feel supported.
"I want [Shai] to feel like her feelings are valid and nothing that she's going through should make her feel like she's isolated. think the biggest thing is that I want her to feel supported throughout her journey and throughout her feelings, because I think everyone goes through their own life and we all just want to feel supported in that journey."
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