Former 18-time Grand Slam champion Chris Evert has told Naomi Osaka that she is rooting for her and urged her to continue developing thick skin and getting mentally stronger.Ā
After Osaka was brought to tears by a heckler in Indian Wells, Evert advised Osaka to be a sensitive person around those close to her but to have a thick skin when she is competing and dealing with heckler.Ā
Evert, a former world No. 1, acknowledged that Osaka is a great champion but also a very kind and genuine person.Ā
“We are all fans of Naomi Osaka and we have seen the high level of tennis that she can play and we have seen her win Grand Slams,” Evert told Eurosport.
Evert: Osaka is a star and nothing everything about is perfectĀ
Evert has encouraged Osaka to keep developing a thick skin as the former American star said there are people who are unhappy with their lives so they express their frustration by trying to bring others down.Ā
“We recognise that she is a very sensitive person and this kind of life of winning tournaments, being No. 1, winning Grand Slams, this competition with everything that comes along with it, being sort of a target for anybody to talk about, being judged and social media, how your privacy is taken away from you,” Evert continued.Ā
“It is not just playing a match on the court, it is everything that goes along with it. It has been a struggle for her and I think that she is just sensitive and she is just vulnerable.
“You have to have thick skin, that’s a reality and that’s not a criticism. If you don’t have thick skin, you can develop thick skin because you’ve got to understand that if you are this successful, you are out in the open for anybody to judge and for anybody to talk about you.
“There are a lot of people out there who are not happy with their own lives. So they sort of interject into other people’s lives their opinion and their negativity.”