Naomi Osaka has been going through a rather tough moment. The Japanese sensation decided to expose her struggle with mental health during the French Open. First, Naomi decided not to attend any press conference in Paris. Later, after the slams threatened her with suspensions, she pulled out from the Roland Garros before declining to play in Wimbledon.
Naomi received the support of many personalities and she recently thanked Novak Djokovic, Michelle Obama, Michael Phelps, and Steph Curry.
During a recent interview with Time magazine, Naomi Osaka commented:
“I want to thank everyone who supported me. Michelle Obama, Michael Phelps, Steph Curry, Novak Djokovic, Meghan Markle, to name a few.
Michael Phelps told me that by speaking up, I may have saved a life. If that’s true, then it was all worth it.”
Michael Phelps on Naomi Osaka
The 23-time Olympic champion had his own issues with mental health. He was particularly impressed by Naomi Osaka to comment:
“This is something that really could help a lot of people. I was so happy for her to be able to share exactly what she wanted. It said in the message that she loves playing tennis, and she wanted to play tennis. Maybe that makes her feel like her authentic self.”
Novak Djokovic
Djokovic was also extremely supportive of Naomi Osaka. He said:
“I support her. I think she was very brave to do that. I’m really sorry that she is going through painful times and suffering mentally.”
Naomi Osaka took a long break from tennis and she will be back to competitions on the occasion of the upcoming Olympic games that will be staged in Tokyo.
Naomi Osaka in 2021
Ranked world no.2, the Japanese played her last match on the 30th of May when she beat world no.63 Patricia Maria Tig 6-4 7-6(4) in the 1st round of the French Open (draw).
During this season the Japanese achieved an overall 14-3 match record. Naomi has won 1 title at the Australian Open.
Djokovic in Wimbledon, ranking, and results in 2021
Now ranked no.1, the Serbian has a composed 32-3 win-loss record in 2021. Novak is now having a run in Wimbledon where he toppled Jack Draper 4-6 6-1 6-2 6-2, Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-3 6-3, Denis Kudla 6-4 6-3 7-67, Cristian Garin 6-2 6-4 6-2 and Marton Fucsovics 6-3 6-4 6-4.
Novak Djokovic will square off with the world no.12 Denis Shapovalov in the semifinal on Friday at 4:30 pm on Centre Court. Their head to head is 6-0 for Djokovic.
The Serbian has won 3 titles in 2021 at the Australian Open, in Belgrade and at the French Open. Novak was the finalist in Rome (Internazionali BNL d’Italia).
Djokovic won 84 titles in his career: 48 on hard courts, 17 on clay courts, 13 on indoor courts and 6 on grass courts. (See the list of his titles)
Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic |
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