Naomi Osaka is in a tough position.
In the wake of her defeat at the hands of Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the U.S. Open, she’s still getting mixed reviews.
There are some people celebrating her defeat; people who don’t understand what she’s going through and will say that she needs to “toughen up.” While on the other side of the coin, there are people who do understand what’s happening, and will show compassion for her.
Why is there not more of the latter happening? And why are others belittling her?
Osaka withdrew from the French Open in May. She also didn’t take part in Wimbledon, citing the need to take care of her mental health issues.
Again, why can’t we all just respect her privacy and let her take care of herself?
For far too long, mental health has been a taboo topic in the sports world. Only in the last few years have professional athletes come out and shared their stories, with Kevin Love, David Freese, and Hayden Hurst being a few examples.
But it’s still stigmatized. When Naomi Osaka announced she would be taking time away from tennis, there were still people making fun of her, saying that she only stepped away because she lost.
They still don’t understand that mental health does in fact affect your ability to compete. They don’t realize that it’s not as simple as her just “making excuses.”
She’s not making excuses. She’s doing quite the opposite actually. She knows herself better than any of us do and realizes that she needs to take care of herself. That isn’t being soft. That’s stepping up and realizing what her priority needs to be.
And doing that can be really hard. It can be a scary thing to tackle your own demons, and Osaka should be praised for recognizing that.
It isn’t hard to show compassion for people going through tough times. Why can’t we have more people doing just that? Even Tom Brady has voiced his support for Osaka.
We never truly know what people are going through. Everyone fights their own battles every day, and the fact that Osaka was going through it on the world’s stage should warrant some sympathy.
Just be kind. It’s not hard.
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