Naomi Osaka gave a brave insight into her emotions throughout 2024 while handling bodily changes after giving birth to her daughter, Shai.
Osaka took the entire 2023 season off to go on maternity leave. She returned at the start of 2024, hiring her former coach, Wim Fissette, in an attempt to hit the ground running this year.
However, the four-time Grand Slam champion’s comeback to tennis has not been straightforward. The 26-year-old could not consistently find the blistering tennis that made her such a feared opponent in previous years.
Osaka’s best performance of the year was undoubtedly at the French Open against the four-time winner at Roland-Garros, Iga Swiatek. The Japanese star held a match point to cause a huge upset, but Swiatek somehow fought back to win.
Producing displays of that quality on a regular basis would have seen Osaka rise up the rankings, but she has struggled to put several good performances together consecutively. That led to her and Fissette parting ways after the US Open.
Osaka hired Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, as his replacement. Their time together started positively, with three victories at the China Open, which set up a meeting with Coco Gauff.
Unfortunately, Osaka sustained a back injury against Gauff. After a few weeks of attempting to recover before the end of the year, the two-time US Open champion announced the end of her season, meaning she will miss the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
Despite enduring many frustrating moments in 2024, returning after giving birth and being away from the sport for a year is not easy. Osaka should be lauded for what she managed to achieve throughout the season.
One issue that Osaka was dealing with behind the scenes was bodily changes. She discussed this in an enlightening Instagram post. In the opening few sentences, she wrote about feeling ashamed of her body throughout some of 2024.
“Honestly I don’t really know what to caption this post. I wanted to say “body changes throughout the year” but it actually means a lot more to me than that. There were moments this year where I felt really ashamed of my body, (for example when I had to wear form fitting tennis clothes lol).”
Osaka admits that being a professional athlete made her feel she should be losing weight quicker than other people and that comparing herself to others was hurtful.
“That self comparison always hurt because I felt as an athlete I should be losing weight quicker than most, I was in the gym everyday so that thought didn’t feel too unrealistic. Most weeks would feel similar to the previous week and the weight didn’t disappear overnight so it was a bit disheartening.”
The former world No. 1 says she went on a journey to reach where she is now, and it is one the 26-year-old is still embracing while realizing that all bodies are different.
“To get to the point I’m at now was definitely a journey, an adventure I know that I’m still embracing. All bodies are different and I appreciate mine for how it is. My body has done so much for me and adapted so well to the tasks that I’m asking from it, I’m extremely grateful and thankful.”
