Namrata Sharma

When we grew up, our strongest communication tool was radio. So I grew up listening to various radio channels, and my favourites were BBC World Service, All India Radio and Radio Nepal. The habit of listening to BBC World Service stuck on and it has become an almost round the clock habit during lockdowns. One of the comments “mind of a winner” made by a reporter while in an interview regarding Naomi Osaka’s announcement that she dropped out of attending press conference after her game competition, has stuck to my mind ever since I heard it.
We always admire winners and successful people but seldom do we reflect on what may go on inside their mindset. Naomi Osaka is currently world’s second ranked tennis player. She was born to a Japanese mother and Haitian father in Japan and is a Japanese professional tennis player. She has been ranked as No 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and is the first Asian player to hold the top most ranking in singles. She is a four-time Grand Slam singles champion and is the reigning champion at the US open and the Australian Open.
She has seven titles on the WTA tour including two at the Premier Mandatory level. At age 16, in the 2018 US Open and later on 2019 Australian Open, Osaka won her first two Grand Slam singles titles in a back-to-back Grand Slam Tournaments and is the first player to achieve this feat since Jennifer Capriati in 2001. She also has the record of being the first woman to win successive Grand Slam singles titles after Serena Williams in 2015. She has been ranked 8th among all athletes in endorsement income in 2020. That year she was the highest-earning female athlete of all times. Apart from being a successful professional sportsperson, Osaka has been an activist supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
So what has made Naomi the champion and one who has been listed as one of the 100 most influential people on earth in Times for both 2019 and 2020 to suddenly opt out of press conferences on the basis of mental health issues? “I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer,” Osaka wrote in her Instagram. “More importantly I would never trivialise mental health or use the term lightly.” Roli Edema writes “People who can truly be called winners don’t just get lucky  - they don’t just succeed one time. Rather, because of their mental framework, winning becomes a habit, a pattern, a reputation.”
Can we take it for granted that winners like Naomi are only there to perform and that no matter what, their minds are always strong to take in everything at all times? And for some reason if these winners give in like Naomi has will she all of a sudden become a loser? Osaka, the highest paid female athlete of all time, hasn’t announced when she will resume tournament play. Does this make her a loser all of a sudden? In my opinion she is even more of a winner now. Being a performer and reigning champion it must have taken a lot of courage to risk her position and possibility of getting the same opportunity in future, whenever she may feel appropriate to return.
This is the courage that has put her in the top position and also helped her to realise when she needs to step back no matter what pressure may be imposed on her to keep going. Mental health issues are still a taboo and to link it with achievers like Naomi is often not thought of. But to graciously admit she has had to struggle to face the press and wants to avoid it should be respected and also be seen as a winner trait.
Mike Coleman wrote on June 1, 2021 in The Daily Mail Australia, “Naomi Osaka isn't just a great tennis player - she is a great actor, her boycott of the French Open on 'mental health' grounds smells very fishy.” He has given a full description of how he has reported on Naomi and faced her during several press conferences where he found her very witty and humorous. He has also accounted several events in her ascend to stardom on the various strategies she took to reach the position she has reached and that her backing off now is in fear of playing in clay which is not what she prefers rather than mental health issue. There are several such reports both for and against her support.

Breaking taboos
There are also several researches and books written on the mindset of a winner and courses offered to make people succeed and win their goals. But at the end of the day it is important to remember that all winners are humans and have to deal with their physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Therefore, if the time comes when they need to step out and take a break particularly while dealing with depression or anxiety facing the media, it is something that needs to be supported rather than ridiculed.
Naomi Osaka has made history as an achiever athlete, but she has also made history by breaking taboos related to mental health and taking a break from the courts that put her to stardom. She needs to be supported and given full opportunity to take care of her health and bounce back to the courts again.

(Namrata Sharma is a senior journalist and human rights activist. namrata1964@yahoo.com Twitter handle: NamrataSharmaP)