‘Shai has helped me lessen the pressure’: Champion Osaka returns after becoming a mother

Naomi Osaka’s five-month-old baby girl Shai isn’t joining her mum in her comeback tour Down Under, but has helped transform the four-time grand slam champion’s attitude to tennis, the sport that has brought her so much success but also deep anxiety.

“Shai has helped me put things into perspective,” Osaka, 26, who had earlier taken time away from the game for her mental health, told this masthead.

Naomi Osaka poses with Milton the koala at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.Credit: Glenn Hunt

“I will always be very ambitious and have high expectations of myself, but at the end of the day, Shai is the most important thing in my life. Having her has helped me lessen the pressure that I put on myself.

“No matter what the result of a match is, she will love me regardless.″⁣

Osaka added in Brisbane on Friday: “For sure giving birth was one of the most painful things I’ve ever gone through.

“So it’s made me feel like physically I can handle a lot more.”

The softly spoken former world No. 1 will start her comeback after a 15-month hiatus from professional tennis at the Brisbane International this weekend.

It’s the second time she has stepped away from the sport, and although she was more concerned with her pregnancy and her young baby during her break than tennis, she admitted that being away from the sport did create a bit of an itch.

“Being away from the sport really reminded me how I love it and missed it,” she said.

Osaka’s road to tennis success has had its rough patches.

Even during the first big win of her career - the 2018 US Open, her first grand slam victory – she had to endure boos from a crowd backing Serena Williams who were unhappy with how officials treated the American great.

Osaka, 20 at the time, apologised for beating her idol Williams, who ended up consoling her as she wept.

Serena Williams consoles Naomi Osaka after the 2018 US Open.Credit: Getty Images

She went on to win another US Open (2020) and two Australian Opens (2019, 2021). Then, in May 2021, she withdrew from the French Open to protect her mental health in the aftermath of a row over her decision to skip media conferences.

“The truth is, I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that,” she wrote on social media.

“Anyone that knows me knows I am introverted and anyone that has seen me at tournaments will notice that I’m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety ... I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media.”

Naomi Osaka wears a COVID-19 mask featuring the name George Floyd, while arriving on court during the 2020 Us Open.Credit: AP

On the eve of the Tokyo Olympics, where she lit the Olympic cauldron, she wrote for Time magazine that she didn’t “court the spotlight” and while she tried to always push herself to speak up about what she believed was right, it often caused her great anxiety.

“I feel uncomfortable being the spokesperson or face of athlete mental health as it’s still so new to me and I don’t have all the answers,” she wrote.

“I do hope that people can relate and understand it’s OK to not be OK, and it’s OK to talk about it. There are people who can help, and there is usually light at the end of any tunnel.”

Becoming a mum has also brought a wave of new challenges for Osaka, but she said she loved seeing so many other mothers on tour.

“I think that the tour has done a good job of supporting women who want to start families, but not necessarily retire,” she said. “I can’t speak for everyone, but I have felt very supported throughout my journey.”

2021 Australian Open women’s champion Naomi Osaka.Credit: Eddie Jim

She refers to the Australian Open in Melbourne as the “happy slam”.

“I love playing in Melbourne. I knew shortly after I found out I was pregnant that I wanted to come back and what better tournament to come back to,” she said.

“I’ve had success here before, so coming back to a court that I’m familiar with and comfortable on was a no-brainer.”

Just two months after having Shai, Osaka said she wanted to play more tournaments than she had before giving birth.

“I’ve been watching matches and I’m like, ‘I wish I was playing, too’,” she said on a panel on mental health at the US Open. “But I’m in this position now and I’m very grateful. I really love my daughter a lot, but it has really fuelled a fire in me.”

She has been training hard for her return, four to five hours a day, while learning the ropes as a new mum, and says she feels like she’s managing it all quite well.

Osaka has also launched, opened or joined numerous business ventures, including Evolve, a talent agency for athletes; Kinlo, a skincare and sunscreen line for melanin-rich skin; Play Academy, a youth sports program with hubs in Haiti, Japan, and Los Angeles; and Miami Pickleball Club, a professional team that plays in Major League Pickleball.

“I think having so much on my plate has been helpful for me because I am hyper-aware of the fact that my time is valuable and there is no time to waste,” she said.

Fast-forward to her opening match at the Brisbane International, and that fire is burning as bright as ever.

“Before my career ends, I would love to win Wimbledon, Roland Garros and Olympic gold,” Osaka said.

Another good run at the “happy slam” would be welcomed as well.

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