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Naomi Osaka is contemplating a break from tennis.
While speaking with reporters at the US Open on Friday, September 3, the tennis star shared that she was experiencing complicated emotions around a sport that once brought her great pleasure and pride.
“I feel like for me recently, when I win, I don't feel happy,” Naomi explained, per ESPN. “I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad. I don't think that's normal.”
The 23-year-old was tearful during her interview, and went on to express that she didn’t know what the future looked like for her career. “Basically I feel like I'm kind of at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match,” she said. “I think I'm going to take a break from playing for a while.”
Naomi’s comments came after she lost in the third round of the US Open while playing against Leylah Fernandez. Prior to that, she had defeated Marie Bouzkova in the first round on Monday, August 30; her second round competitor, Olga Danilovic, stepped down from the match due to illness.
The tennis star, who recently participated in her first Olympic games, has been continuously outspoken about the topic of mental health. Her comments at the US Open come just a few weeks after she withdrew from the French Open after being fined over her decision not to speak to the press at that time. Since then, she has continued to advocate for more support and understanding when it comes to athletes’ mental health, and even penned a moving open letter in TIME about this very topic, where she explained she doesn't necessarily want to be the face of a movement—she just hopes people will listen and others will feel seen.
“I always try to push myself to speak up for what I believe to be right, but that often comes at a cost of great anxiety,” Naomi wrote in her op-ed. “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. I do hope that people can relate and understand it’s O.K. to not be O.K., and it’s O.K. to talk about it. There are people who can help, and there is usually light at the end of any tunnel.”
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