“To be honest, I’ve gotten heckled before, it didn’t really bother me,” she tearfully advised the group following her defeat. “But [being] heckled here, I watched a video of Venus and Serena [Williams] getting heckled here, and if you’ve never watched it, you should watch it. I don’t know why, but it went into my head.”
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Since that second, she advised SELF for a 2022 cowl story that she began persistently going to remedy. Deciding to help your psychological well being (then discovering somebody you really click on with) might be daunting, which Osaka totally acknowledged. “I’m super happy that I found the right person who really understands me,” she stated. “It can be helpful to everyone in some shape or form…it doesn’t mean you are broken.”
Her self-care routine facilities round meditation and journaling.
On high of getting skilled help, Osaka finds it useful to “reflect on the day or…write down what I want to achieve in the day,” she stated in SELF’s cowl story. To enhance her temper, she’s intentional about placing her cellphone down and making time for her extra leisurely, non-tennis hobbies, like gaming. (Her favourite video games, she stated, embody Fortnite, Overwatch, Apex Legends, and the Elder Scrolls.)
Another key (and tremendous cute) participant in lifting her spirits? Her French bulldog, Butta. “He’s a big source of comfort for me. Whenever you pick him up, he just becomes a big baby,” she gushed. “He’s really good at cuddling. I really love that about him.”
Her psychological well being breaks “really raised my love for the sport.”
While Osaka didn’t compete on the 2023 US Open, she nonetheless made an look at Flushing Meadows—this time, becoming a member of a psychological well being panel with Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps and US Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy.
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During this dialogue, Osaka shared her perspective on admitting when she’s not okay. “Growing up, I was told to tough it out, and I was in my head thinking athletes are supposed to stick it out and you’re actually weak if you show your emotions…so it was a very big internal battle,” she stated.
Now the tennis star is snug asking for assist from buddies and defending her boundaries. She additionally stated she by no means may have imagined taking part in such a mentally taxing sport for so long as Serena and Venus Williams. However, taking a hiatus to are likely to herself impressed her to rethink her profession path.