After beating Australian Astra Sharma 6-3, 6-4 in her first round at the Miami Open, the four-time grand slam champion told reporters she was feeling better.
“I realize how helpful it is,” Osaka said of talking to a therapist. “I’m glad I have people around me who told me to go that way.”
When a reporter asked her why this was when Osaka decided to talk to someone, she said it was because her sister, former professional soccer player Mari Osaka, “seemed very concerned about me.”
“I feel like I’ve tried a lot of different things, because I tend to internalize things, and I also want to do everything on my own,” Osaka said, adding that her coach, Wim Fissette, “has taken it a bit into a really good manner. He was like, you hire a coach for tennis, for fitness. The mind is such a big thing. If you can get a professional to help you 0.5 percent, that’s just the worth it.’
Speaking to the crowd after the loss, Osaka said at the time it didn’t bother her to be interested, “but interested here, like, I’ve seen a video of Venus and Serena (Williams) being heckled here, and if you have I never seen it, you should watch it. I don’t know why, but it went into my head and was repeated a lot.”
Osaka said in Florida on Wednesday: “I think for me, the situation in Indian Wells, I’ve thought about it a bit. I realize I’ve never been harassed. I’ve been booed, but not as a direct yell- It brought me a bit out of my element.
“I feel like I’m prepared for it now. I kind of braced myself for the game to know that this is something that could happen now. I think I had to change my mindset a little bit.”
Next up for Osaka at the Miami Open is leftist Angelique Kerber from Germany in the second round. Kerber has a 4-1 lead in their head-to-head matches.