Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka has opened up on the negative side of pregnancy after revealing she struggled with ‘extremely bad’ postpartum depression.
The four-time grand slam winner gave birth to daughter Shai in the summer of 2023. Osaka had the child with her ex-boyfriend and music star, Cordae.
Despite the joys that come with having a baby, the tennis star revealed she had a bad experience due to mental health issues.
Speaking in her upcoming documentary ‘Naomi Osaka: The Second Set’ she opened up on her struggles.
“Honestly, I also had extremely bad postpartum [depression], and I didn’t know how to deal with it that well,” she said.
“Prior to giving birth, a bunch of different people had told me about postpartum.
“But truthfully, I had thought that since I was so aware of it, I could somehow avoid the symptoms altogether.”
Osaka added: “In no world would I ever want my daughter to think that her birth is nothing less than the biggest gift I have ever received.
“But during those early months, I felt like a shell of myself at all moments of the day.
“I no longer knew who I was anymore. It felt like everyone else had moved on and they were living in color. Meanwhile, my world was stuck in gray.”
Osaka thought about ending tennis career
The Japanese tennis star opened up on her experience of becoming a mother during an interview with People magazine.
Osaka revealed she thought the birth of her daughter would make her want to quit tennis. Instead, Shai’s arrival has had the opposite effect.
“I was one of those people that thought when I had a kid I would stop playing tennis,” she said.
“I also wanted my daughter to be able to see me play tennis. It was such a big part of my life and I feel like she doesn’t know it, but she definitely inspired me to continue.”
Osaka was back in training within one week of going into labor.
Within one week of going into labor, Osaka was back in training.
She added: “I feel like in the back of my head, I was a little stressed, of course, because I really desperately wanted to play and I felt like I had to do whatever it took.”
Osaka, who has won two US Open titles, will be looking to make it a hat-trick when she kicks off her Flushing Meadows campaign on Monday against Belgium’s Greet Minnen.
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