Naomi Osaka, another ‘big’ comeback after a stressful pregnancy: “I was scared”

The upcoming contest Brisbane (December 31-January 7) the reappearance of two former world number 1’s with great weight in tennis. The return of Rafael Nadalwinner of 22 Grand Slamsinterest is focused on the men’s team, but Brisbane will also have another ‘big’ return to the women’s team: Naomi Osakawinner of four majors, is back in action after a 15-month absence from the circuit due to maternity.

The 26-year-old Japanese player has not played since September 2022, when he retired with illness in the second round of the Tokyo WTA. Months later, she announced her pregnancy and gave birth to her first daughter in July. Shai.

Osaka is one of the high-level athletes who has recognized and spoken about the mental health problems she has had to deal with during her career. Her pregnancy and childbirth were also not peaceful for Naomi, as she admitted in an interview with Style Magazine.

Osaka explained that during her pregnancy she tested positive for group B streptococcus, a bacterial infection that can cause serious health problems, including stillbirth in newborns.

“I started out a little scared. I don’t think people know how difficult pregnancy is. Nobody really talks about it. Morning sickness, weight gain, loneliness. When you start, you’re like, ‘Oh, this is a great trip! But it’s kind of hard,'” Naomi said.

Her anxiety increased and she suffered from that anxiety until the day of her daughter’s birth after a painful 12-hour labor, which was also very complicated, according to the previous nine months.

“I remember that at that moment I thought: ‘This is the worst pain of my life and I know that, if I get over it, everything else will be very easy,'” explained the Japanese tennis player, who found out after her daughter was born with a nuchal cord, that is, an umbilical cord wrapped around the neck which can also cause serious problems for the baby.

Fortunately, all went well and Osaka and her partner, rapper Cordae They have a perfectly healthy daughter named Shai, which means “gift” in Hebrew. “At first there was a long adjustment period. Your life changes from one day to the next and everything is different from the moment you come home from the hospital,” says Naomi, who has stepped up her training to prepare as possible for his return to the clues.

“I don’t want to come back if I can’t play at a certain level,” Osaka said to prove that she will try to regain that version that led her to win the title twice. USA Open (2018, 2020) and two others in Australian Open (2019, 2021).

“I’ve been away from tennis before, but this time it was for the longest time of my life. And I think it gave me another perspective: ‘Hey, you’re not going to play tennis forever and you have to appreciate year “You can play! I want to be a good role model for Shai and I want him to see that this is an important chapter in my life,” Osaka said.