
Former World No.1 Naomi Osaka hopes to filter out any negativity in her preparation for the clay-court season as she continues to heal from being heckled in a second-round loss at Indian Wells last month.
The four-time Grand Slam champion was broken in the first game at the tournament in California when a fan shouted "Naomi, you suck" and Osaka could later be seen wiping away tears.
However, Osaka said her focus was on the positive.
"I'm not going to lie, it's not like everyday is being perfect," Osaka told reporters when speaking about her struggles with mental health.
"I talk to my therapist at least once a week and I just try to be more open to things. Say something happens that kind of throws me off my groove, I try to see it from a different perspective. I was talking to my therapist about that, being more open to all the possibilities.
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"I would say that filtering the negativity from a minority is something that I'm getting better at doing. I'm doing mental exercises to focus on the positive," Osaka added, explaining that she is staying away from Twitter because "it is way more negative than Instagram".
She also said the Indian Wells experience allowed her another opportunity to grow as a person, saying: "Even though I really hated the experience, I'm glad it happened to me. Indian Wells was one of those moments. I wish it didn't happen but I'm glad it did."
The Japanese superstar received a wildcard entry to the Madrid Open, and will face Anastasia Potapova in the first round.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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mandoist31-10-2026 - Osaka's mental state apparently does not allow her to reach any more Quarter Finals? I mean, she doesn't really have the time for tennis with all the pre-planning that must go into her 12 year-old "fashion" goals.
mandoist29-10-2026 - With her money one would think she could afford a better team of Psychiatrists?
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