Naomi Osaka regrets ‘postpartum’-like body issues amid tennis struggles a year after giving birth

Women’s tennis star Naomi Osaka lost in the qualifying round of the Cincinnati Open on Monday, but said that was not her biggest problem.

The 26-year-old star opened up about the physical issues she’s been dealing with in an Instagram post on Tuesday, saying it feels similar to being postpartum.

“My biggest problem right now is not the losses, but that I don’t feel like I’m in my body,” Osaka wrote. “The only feeling I can compare now is postpartum. That scares me because I’ve been playing tennis since I was three years old, the tennis racket should feel like an extension of my hand. I don’t understand why everything has to feel almost like new again.”

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Osaka gave birth to her first child over a year ago on July 12. Her daughter, Shai, was born to her and her boyfriend, rapper Cordae. She did not play tennis again until January, when she lost in the first round of the 2024 Australian Open to Caroline Garcia. Since then, she has lost in the second round of the French Open and Wimbledon, and then lost in the first round of the women’s singles at the Paris Olympics to Germany’s Angelique Kerber.

“It’s a weird feeling, missing balls I shouldn’t be missing, hitting balls softer than I remember I used to. I try to tell myself, ‘It’s okay, you’re doing great. Just get through this and keep pushing,’ but mentally it’s really exhausting. Internally, I hear myself screaming, ‘What the hell is going on?!?!’” she wrote on Instagram.

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Prior to her pregnancy, Osaka had won four Grand Slam singles titles: the US Open in 2018 and 2020 and the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021. Osaka reached the world number one ranking once in January 2019. Osaka withdrew from the 2021 French Open, citing “mental health issues” after being fined $15,000 and receiving threats for failing to attend a press conference.

Between that withdrawal and her pregnancy, Osaka competed at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the 2021 US Open, the 2022 Australian Open, the 2022 Miami Open, the 2022 French Open, the 2022 US Open and the 2022 Pan Pacific Open and was eliminated in the early rounds of each tournament.

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In the 13 months since having her first child, she has continued to strive to regain the form she enjoyed early in her career that led to multiple Grand Slam titles.

“During this time, I’ve been asking myself what I want out of this whole experience and I realized one thing: I love the process (even though sometimes the process doesn’t love me back, haha), working every day, and eventually having the opportunity to get to where I want to be,” Osaka wrote.

“I know that life isn’t guaranteed, so I want to do the best I can with the time I have. I want to teach my daughter that she can achieve many things with hard work and perseverance. I want her to aim for the stars and never think that her dreams are too big.”

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Osaka plans to compete at the 2024 US Open in Queens, New York, later this month.

“In life, nothing is promised, but I realized that I can promise myself that I will work as hard as I can and give my best until the end,” she wrote. “See you in New York.”

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