Naomi Osaka’s mental health discussion resonates at French Open

“I remember after I came back from France last year and being followed by photographers even in random places like the grocery store. It felt really strange and a bit overwhelming, until one day a woman came up to me and said that by speaking up, she was helping her child,” Osaka wrote in a recent email to The Associated Press. “At that moment, it all seemed worth it.”

In conversations with The AP shortly before or during the French Open, which began Sunday, a number of professional tennis players credited Osaka with helping to bring up the issue of shadows for their sport and, along with voices from other athletes, like the Olympic champion gymnast. Simone Biles, helping to foster more awareness and concern.

“I definitely think it’s something that gets a lot more attention than it was, at least as a teenager. I don’t even think he knew what it was back then. And we’re seeing people talk and normalize it a little bit in a way where it’s okay if you’re struggling with something, it doesn’t matter if it’s on the court, off the court, whatever,” said Jessica Pegula, a player from 28 years. -year-old from New York who reached the second round of the French Open on Tuesday.

“In tennis, the life we ​​live is not so normal,” he said. “It can lead to a lot of unhealthy habits.”

Osaka was not the first to address this.

But her place of prominence, as a four-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player, and her decisions to withdraw from Roland Garros, explain why and take two mental health breaks last season resonated.

“Any time an athlete shares their vulnerability and their authenticity, it will affect other athletes in that sport. There is a relationship,” said Becky Ahlgren Bedics, WTA vice president of mental health and wellness. “So I don’t know if I would necessarily attribute it to a person or an event, but… that makes other people sit up and take notice and say, ‘Well, maybe I should look for something similar too.’ ”

Paola Badosa, a 24-year-old Spaniard who won on Tuesday, has not shied away from speaking about her own anxiety.

She, like others, appreciated Osaka’s candor.

“All of us are human. All of us have to deal with all these mental struggles. We fight,” Badosa said. “And it’s important that players like her speak up about it.”

Before Roland Garros last year, Osaka said she had no intention of speaking to the media. After her first-round win, she was fined $15,000 for skipping a mandatory press conference (a requirement she hasn’t changed at the French Open or other major championships). Osaka then withdrew from the event.

“I think everyone was shocked and not ready for it,” said Kildine Chevalier, manager of player services and relations for the French tennis federation.

“It is important that we now take these issues into account,” said Chevalier, a former professional player who has not previously worked in the area of ​​mental health, “not to repeat a similar situation and to prevent it instead of acting when it is already there.” here.”

New amenities for players at this French Open include an 850-square-foot hall in the main stadium with 11 beds and noise-reducing headphones, a yoga room with daily workshops on meditation and breathing, and direct phone lines to communicate with psychologists or psychiatrists.

That is independent of what the men’s and women’s tours offer, such as a member of the WTA’s mental health and wellness team who is at Roland Garros.

Those meetings have been available for years on the women’s tour, but Ahlgren Bedics estimated that there has been a 30% increase in sessions for WTA players during the opening months of 2022, compared to the first quarter of 2021.

Rebecca Marino, a former Canadian player who was in the top 40, left the tour for nearly five years due to depression, but is now back, qualifying for her first French Open since 2011. She notes a difference in the way she that mental health is being talked about these days – in tennis, yes, but also throughout society – and said he has “a lot of praise” for the WTA’s approach.

“People didn’t really understand what I was going through with my mental health and why I was pulling away from the sport,” Marino said. “Now we have many more athletes who are discussing the importance of mental health in their careers. It’s really opened up the conversation to a lot more people and created a more positive conversation, which I think is really wonderful and I’m glad that’s starting to happen.”

Still, Frances Tiafoe, a 24-year-old from Maryland who considers Osaka a close friend, said there is work to be done.

“Sometimes, you don’t want to make yourself vulnerable with each other,” he said Tuesday after a win. “If you complain, they call you ‘soft’. But when you think about it, you are actually strong. Sometimes people are really going through a lot of internal stuff, but they hide it and try to put on a front like they’re super tough. Sometimes you just need to verbalize it. You need a safe space to be heard. With Naomi, she was going through some things at the time.”

Osaka, a 23-year-old who was born in Japan and now lives in the United States, has remained a part of the conversation publicly. She talked about talking to a therapist. She became an investor in the role of lead community health advocate for Modern Health, which bills itself as a “global workplace mental health and wellness platform.”

She records the meditations the company makes available to the public, and CEO and founder Alyson Watson said Osaka “can play such a big role in de-stigmatizing mental health” and “really paves the way, not only for the athletes, but also for other people, to talk about the fight as well.”

In her email to The AP, Osaka wrote about keeping quiet about her feelings growing up, about getting over that, and, regarding the 2021 French Open, added: “This year, I’m in a different state, for sure.”