Naomi Osaka opened up about postpartum depression she struggled with after the birth of her daughter, Shai.
Osaka gave birth in 2023 to Shai, whose father is Osaka’s ex-boyfriend and rap star Cordae.
“Honestly, I also had extremely bad postpartum [depression], and I didn’t know how to deal with it that well,” Osaka said in a clip promoting “Naomi Osaka: The Second Set,” her upcoming documentary. “… Prior to giving birth, a bunch of different people had told me about postpartum. But truthfully, I had thought that since I was so aware of it, I could somehow avoid the symptoms altogether.
“In no world would I ever want my daughter to think that her birth is nothing less than the biggest gift I have ever received. But during those early months, I felt like a shell of myself at all moments of the day. I no longer knew who I was anymore. It felt like everyone else had moved on and they were living in color. Meanwhile, my world was stuck in gray.”
The tennis star is the No. 23 seed in next week’s US Open and will face Greet Minnen in the first round.
She won the US Open in 2018 and 2020, and also triumphed in the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021.
Osaka, 27, ranked as the world No. 1 for 25 weeks starting in January 2021, but has not enjoyed nearly the same success in recent years after returning to the court following Shai’s birth.
She was emotional and shed tears after being eliminated in the first round at the French Open in May, saying she felt like she let down her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who previously coached Serena Williams.
“As time goes on I feel like I should be doing better,” Osaka said. “I hate disappointing people.[Mouratoglou] goes from working with, like, the greatest player ever to, like, ‘What the f–k is this?’ You know what I mean?”
In 2021, Osaka withdrew from the French Open, citing “huge waves of anxiety.”
Osaka said she would not be speaking to the media, which prompted the French Open to fine her $15,000 and threaten to kick her out of the tournament.
She subsequently withdrew from the tournament and revealed she was battling depression.
“The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that,” Osaka posted on social media at the time. “I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media. I get really nervous and find it stressful to always try to engage and give you the best answers I can.”
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