Naomi Osaka says COVID-19 world stressful, may have increased her anxiety

Naomi Osaka announced her return to the big leagues with a hard-fought win against Coco Gauff. Down a set and a break to 17-year-old Coco Gauff, the second-ranked Osaka fought back to pull out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win at the Western and Southern Open on Wednesday. This is Osaka’s her first WTA Tour event since the French Open in late May.

But the statement that she made of the court was an even stronger one. She spoke her reasons for staying out o the game for the last 3 months. She addressed how speaking to reporters was taking a toll on her mental health.

“I wonder what affected me so much and made me not want to do media. (Maybe) I was scared of bad headlines,” Osaka said.

Speaking about the stress, the tennis star said that the COVID-19 lifestyle and bio-bubbles may have been one of the factors.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, several sportspeople have either taken a break or complained about the toll that the isolation was taking. Most of the sporting events have been played in bio-bubbles, with athletes being confined to a certain atmosphere and set of people for months. US gymnast Simone Biles pulled out of the all-around team final at the Tokyo Olympics. Biles, who many regard as the greatest athlete of all times, had withdrawn from the women’s team final saying that she wants to focus on her mental health.

The 23-year-old Osaka is outspoken on many social issues and announced during Monday’s pre-match media session that she would be donating her tournament prize money to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, her father’s homeland. She also spoke about the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan.

Earlier this week, Haiti was ravaged by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake which has already claimed over 2,000 lives in the region. The turmoil in Afghanistan is a result of the Taliban seizing power in the country and forcing elected president Ashraf Ghani to flee.