“Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the Australian Open. We will miss her at #AO2023,” the tweet from the Australian Open says. We all have gone through this before and really feel the void with her not being in the Melbourne Slam. But is it only the Australian one?
“…The best thing for …my well-being is that I wthdraw…the truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the U.S. Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that…” Naomi Osaka had confessed on her social media two years ago at the 2021 French Open. Everyone chose to appreciate and understand her plight and need for better mental health. It was pleasurable to see her in tournaments after the French, and Osaka did well in the Melbourne Summer Series going deep into the semifinal. The Miami Open she made it through to the final against Iga Swiatek despite her loss to the Polish teen. Last year’s French Slam was a loss in the opening round. Is this pattern trying to tell Naomi something?
Here we are in 2023. A new season that everyone anticipated seeing Osaka at the first slam of the season, the Australian Open. “I love tennis. I think I had to take a little step back from it just to see the full picture again,” the grand slam champion had acknowledged last year. She had won the Australian Open twice (in 2019 & 2021) with last year only going through to the third round. After that she withdrew from Wimbledon, having sustained an injury to her Achilles tendon. The grass slam she has never won and it doesn’t look promising at present of it happening in the near future. The U.S. Open she’d win over Serena Williams in 2018 and in 2020 over Victoria Azarenka.
After Osaka’s proclamation on the French Open press in 2021, it seemed as though no slam proved a positive for the major champion. Could it be the crowds are too large or the media are too impinging on her? Expectations were high years ago when she was ranked no. 1 in the world, but now she’s slipped to no. 47, with so many women players gaining acceptance and speed in rising up the rankings’ ladder. The last thing to be concerned about Naomi Osaka is her ranking numbers. Stress proved itself for the marketable Japanese as she hasn’t played since last September, withdrawing from the Tokyo Open.
Many players have felt the pressure and rather than take the high road of premiere tournaments and not participate, decided to play on the ITF Challenger level and get their game steady again. Could Naomi do well on that level? There might be less competition and pressure. But at present, it’s debated what will be an even fit for Osaka to come back and play tournaments. It sure is from the past that entering Grand Slams may not be the wisest thing she could ever do. She would do well on entering or participating again not until her stress level lowers and her successful matches have been accomplished.