Naomi Osaka says she will play her first-round match at the US Open 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 about who I am,” Osaka said. “I’ve had really tough matches all year, and that’s taken my confidence down a bit. I wouldn’t say I’ve played bad tennis. I would just say I’ve played against really good players and I’ve learned a lot.”
After losing in the qualifying rounds of the Cincinnati Open a little over a week ago, Osaka wrote a lengthy post on social media explaining how she felt like she was in a different body since giving birth and that everything about her game felt “almost brand new.” Her openness and vulnerability, particularly on a topic as mundane as returning to work after giving birth, resonated with many.
Osaka credits her ballet movement and mental coach, Simone Elliott, for playing a key role in helping her maintain her composure on the court. “In Cincinnati, I was struggling the day before my qualifying match and an hour before the match I asked if I could talk to her,” she said. “We talked about it. Then, of course, I was able to win the match and I felt pretty good afterward.
“You know me, I’ve had moments where I’ve kind of had a breakdown on court. I feel like if I hadn’t talked to her, maybe that could have happened again at that point. I’m really grateful to her. We do have journal sessions. She’s actually the one who told me to get my little journal book that I read on court sometimes.”
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Osaka says she feels better after spending a significant amount of time on the practice court and that training has gone well since Cincinnati. Expressing her feelings and concerns has been helpful: “It’s like you’re putting your words out into the universe and letting them go. After you [do] “When you do it, you are a little bit freed from the thoughts that cloud your mind.”