‘Don’t Sleep and Lose My Mind’- Naomi Osaka’s ‘Scary’ Depression Tale That Made Her ‘Sweat’ at the Peak of Her Fame in 2019

Published 11/28/2022, 8:26 AM EST

Tennis is not an easy sport. Performing at the topmost level brings in a lot of pressure. With the increasing popularity of tennis, we have seen the rise of young champions. One of them who peaked early in her career is Naomi Osaka.

The Japanese won the 2018 US Open and rose to fame quickly. In a brief period, she made rapid progress and won four Grand Slam titles. Then came the phase when not-so-good performances happened, and the problems started happening for Osaka. Dealing with failure is an important part of any athlete’s career. However, it became worse for Osaka as she found herself sleepless. Here’s what she said about her situation.

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Naomi Osaka had sleepless nights

The pressure of performing at the topmost level is very high. Especially after achieving early success, the players also have to carry the burden of expectations from fans. It impacted Osaka severely. The 24-year-old once admitted that she suffered from insomnia because of the same reason. Here’s what she said.

“When I get into tournaments, like really big tournaments, my sleep is all messed up and I start having dreams that I win the tournament, or then I don’t have dreams at all and I just sweat,” Osaka said.

She further added, “It’s either walk or don’t sleep and lose my mind. It’s a bit scary.”

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Osaka took a brave step in the middle of the French Open 2021. The Japanese publically accepted her mental health challenges and opted for a break from tennis for some time.

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Osaka’s poor run of form

After coming out from her mental health break, Osaka has struggled for form. The 24-year-old has suffered multiple initial round exits in the tournament she played this year. The problem worsened with frequent injury issues. Osaka had a shocking first-round exit in the French Open earlier this year. Later, she had to pull out of Wimbledon because of her Achilles injury.

Osaka returned for the American hard court swing, but her poor performance continued. Playing in the US Open, the 2018 champion crashed out of the tournament after suffering a first-round defeat against Danielle Collins of America.

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Osaka last played in the Japan Open but left in between due to health issues. While Osaka is going through a tough time, it will be interesting to see how she performs in the upcoming season. Can Osaka return to her old form? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Gaurav Verma is a Tennis Author at EssentiallySports. He has post graduate diploma in management from IILM Graduate School of Management and a BBA degree from Bangalore University. He has 1-year of experience in the banking sector.

Edited by:

Hitesh Nigam

‘Don’t Sleep and Lose My Mind’- Naomi Osaka’s ‘Scary’ Depression Tale That Made Her ‘Sweat’ at the Peak of Her Fame in 2019

Naomi Osaka had sleepless nights

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Osaka’s poor run of form