Tennis player Naomi Osaka has opened up about the difficulties she had giving birth to her first child, calling it the most agonizing time in her life. Osaka, who welcomed her first kid with rapper boyfriend Cordae a year ago, will return to competition in Brisbane at the end of the month.
After the warm-up match, the four-time Grand Slam champion intends to compete in the Australian Open later in January. In an interview with InStyle, she reflected on the moment, expressing the extreme difficulty she faced during childbirth in the wake of preparation to return to tennis.
“I do remember feeling in that moment, this is the worst pain of my life.”
“And I know that if I get through this, then everything else will feel very easy.”
She added: “I don’t think people know how hard pregnancy is; no one really talks about it as much.
“Going into it, you kind of think: ‘Oh, it’s this beautiful journey.’ But it’s kind of rough.”
Osaka stated that at first, she wasn’t sure if she should raise her child well. She acknowledged that moms are super heroes.
In response to earlier rumors regarding her relationship with rapper boyfriend Cordae, with whom she welcomed daughter Shai, Osaka allayed concerns about a potential split. She said that they have a solid basis for their relationship, one that is based on mutual respect and honest communication.
“At the end of the day, we both want what’s best for Shai.”
“She is so pure,” she said about her five-month-old daughter. “Like, every time she sees me, no matter what, she’ll smile. And she’s going in the phase now that she’ll kind of reach out her arms a little bit.”
In addition to her accomplishments on the court, Osaka has been transparent about her issues with mental health. She disclosed her history of depression after withdrawing from the 2021 French Open due to backlash over her refusal to participate in post-match interviews.
“I just want people to talk about [mental health] and not feel ashamed,” she said. “Normalize it.”