Naomi Osaka withdraws from upcoming match

....and I think that she should. Lately she has been having a bit too many outbursts and is kind of ruining her star-power by doing so. I am quite certain that she and all the other tennis players are under a huge amount of pressure all of the time and I think that some people take it better than others. I don't remember the exact saying but something about how it's a long way to fall from the top... whatever, I probably butchered a famous quote there.

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Naomi dropping out of the BNP Paribas isn't a surprise but rather just exactly what she said she was going to do after her surprising loss in the US Open that saw her depart from the tournament a lot earlier than most people expected.

I've been very critical of Naomi and really any other sports superstar that whines about their mental health and what not because I just don't understand how someone with that much money could ever truly have bad mental health but then again, I've never been rich so I guess I don't have any personal experience.

I did watch a documentary recently called Untold: Breaking Point about how Mardy Fish couldn't handle the stress and was actually suffering bad physical as well as psychological effects because of it. The extreme pressure that these athletes are under is something that I guess I have just never really thought about before. I tend to look at them as crybabies because they get paid a lot of money to do something that other people do to relax and enjoy themselves and not only do they not get paid millions for it, but they have to PAY in order to do it.

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Smashing rackets, screaming like a pissed off child in front of thousands of people in attendance and millions around the world watching on TV, and then storming off the court after losing isn't really a good look for anyone and I haven't been very kind to her because of this...

Despite my lack of sympathy for very very wealthy people having some stressy-poo in their life I did feel a bit bad for her when i read this

“I feel like for me, recently, when I win, I don’t feel happy, I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad”

The problem is I don't think that this is something she is going to be able to just get past with some therapy and perhaps reaching the pinnacle of the tennis world was actually the worst thing that could have happened to her. Every tennis player or any athlete for that matter eventually falls from the top. It can be because of lack of practice, bad coaching, or just getting older but eventually it happens to everyone. It is a bit unusual for it to happen so quickly for a once dominant athlete though.

So Osaka should sit some matches out and hopefully practice enough to keep her skills up. Maybe, if it is so stressful to be at the top maybe a better idea would be to just approach these events not expecting to win them. Naomi already has more money than most people would ever make in their entire lives and if she finishes in the top 16, which I think she could easily do in most tournaments, that would be considered a massive win for most people in the tennis game.

It might be time for these athletes to perhaps not aim so high. Not everyone can be a Djokovic and even he might not be able to do that anymore either.

I wish Naomi the best and I hope she takes as much time off as she needs. It will be interesting to see how she performs if and when she eventually comes back.