Naomi Osaka says she will go into her US Open first-round match against former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko determined to compete with the confidence she has lacked in a difficult comeback season since the birth of her daughter Shai in July last year.
“I promised myself to be as confident as possible in the fact that I am who I am,” Osaka said. “Throughout the year, I’ve had really tough matches and that’s affected my confidence a little bit. I wouldn’t say I played bad tennis. I would just say that I played against really good players and learned a lot as well.”
After losing in the qualifying rounds of the Cincinnati Open just over a week ago, Osaka wrote a lengthy message on social media explaining that she feels like she’s in a different body since giving birth and that everything about her game feels “almost brand new.” Her openness and vulnerability, especially on such a mundane topic as returning to work after giving birth, has resonated with many people.
Osaka said her ballet and mental coach Simone Elliott played a key role in keeping her composure on the court. “In Cincinnati, I was feeling really bad the day before my qualifying match and an hour before the match I asked her if I could talk to her,” she said. “We talked everything through. Then of course I was able to win the match and I felt pretty good after that.”
“So you know me, I’ve had these moments where I’ve had a nervous breakdown on the court. I feel like if I hadn’t spoken to her, it could have potentially happened again in that moment. I’m really grateful to her. We have diary sessions. She’s actually the one who told me to get my little diary book that I read on the court sometimes.”
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Osaka says she feels better after spending a lot of time on the practice court, and that training has gone well since Cincinnati. It has helped her to voice her feelings and worries: “It’s like speaking your words into the universe and then letting them go. After you do it, you’re kind of free from the thoughts that are confusing you.”
