The most nervous I’ve ever been wasn’t for my medicine interview or the HSC. It was the morning of my first proper hard ball cricket match, as I had graduated from the soft ball shenanigans of the under 10s. I had a new bat, I practiced diligently and was going to be opening the batting. Everything was in place to shine. But when i finally got out there, I froze. For a whole hour, I was unable to be dismissed but also unable to score, reaching a grand total of 2 after twenty overs. The pain was finally ended by a run out, and I went home and cried. Thankfully my cricketing life has got somewhat better after that.

Like cricket, tennis is filled with solo struggles, where you are by yourself in the firing line, trying to express your skills…just without 10 other people by your side watching you on. Thankfully after my 2 run, hour long mindblock I only had a supportive dad to talk to after, not face a throng of media. You see where I am going with this…ahh the conundrum of Naomi Osaka.

For tennis fans who had not been closely following Osaka’s career, her sudden decision to forgo post-match press appearances at the French Open was a surprise. Also surprising was the cold threat of the organisers that she could be removed from the competition if she didn’t complete her required duties. Osaka pulled out of the Open, and subsequently Wimbledon, making a return in her home Olympics and lighting the cauldron to boot. It really is a polarising situation, one that has elicited very strong opinions on both sides of the coin. On one hand there needs to be at times a more common-sense handling of press conferences, with some journalists asking pointlessly aggressive and obvious questions after a player’s crushing defeats. However there also has to be some acknowledgement on the necessity of such appearances, as Osaka’s sponsors from Nike to Nissan to Mastercard need her to run through them, even if she wants to provide the most cliched vanilla answers.

I admit that it is easy to sit back and say “why does she still take on more sponsorships and promotions when she doesn’t want the limelight of press attention?”. Osaka is from a a humble background and has worked hard to get to the top of her craft. When big name companies approach her with cheques why should she say no? Accepting them doesn’t diminish the significance of her struggles with her mental health and confidence. As she admitted during her Cincinnati presser which ended prematurely after a direct- but in my opinion fair, line of questioning upset her, she needs time to work out a balance between embracing her off-court interests and the media limelight that results from them.

Criticism, it goes without saying really, affects athletes in contrasting ways. For some like Novak Djokovic it seems to wash off him like water off a duck’s back (excuse the basic cliche). However for others little prods in either the media or from fans on social platforms can cause more distress than intended. Yes, Naomi Osaka might be one of the most positively received tennis players in the world, with fans and pundits alike revelling in her aggressive and fearless style of play. But even if you receive 99% of positive comments, the 1% can hurt for people with a vulnerable mindset. On a personal level, I can find it hard to shake comments that I don’t like. Take my medicine journey for example, as despite an outpouring of support when I almost gave it away upon another 4th year failed subjects, a couple of friends saying that my lackadaisical approach affected them in the sense of their self worth in their degree annoyed me immensely and damaged the friendships. Just like journalists trying to pick apart athletes’ efforts on the court, it’s impossible to judge someone’s approach without knowing exactly what they are going through at the time. Another (former) friend saying I wouldn’t be a good doctor because I had taken too much time to get to this point still grates, but I guess the ball is in my court to prove them wrong!

Athletes express their struggles with the brutal toll of sport on their mental health in different ways. Take the mercurial Frenchman Benoit Paire, he of the ridiculous no look tweener volleys plastered over tennis highlight reels on Youtube. A former top 20 player, his performance drop off took an almost comical level, where he openly admitted to showing up to collect his tournament pay check. The peak of the ‘tankathon’ came when a chair umpire at Wimbledon admonished him for a lack of effort provoking animated protestations and even more obvious half hearted shotmaking. I had great pleasure last week then, of watching Paire’s run in the Cincinnati Masters, where he stylishly knocked out Denis Shapovalov in a thrilling match. Asked afterwards where he got the motivation from, he simply replied “the crowds, having people there to watch!” Sport, especially a solo one like tennis, can be an incredibly lonely world. It’s great for Benoit that he’s able to play in front of crowds now, but spare a thought for challenger level players fighting through matches in the middle of nowhere, dreaming of one day playing in a slam.

Well today both Benoit and my favourite tennis maverick Nick Kyrgios have been both bundled out in the first round of the US open, both in meek fashion betraying their arguably superior talents compared to their opponents. In fairness Kyrgios was playing the highly accomplished Roberto Batuista Agut, who possesses a consistent metronomic game that has been an effective counter to Nick over the years. What was concerning was the lack of fight over the match from Kyrgios, coupled from his earlier comments about being unsure about how much fire he still has for tennis. It makes for frustrating viewing for sure, but before damning performances as “pathetic” as the headline has been there needs to be a more holistic view of an athlete I feel. Was Kyrgios in physical shape to produce a better performance? Yes (although coming off post Wimbledon injuries he may well not have been), but being in a sound mental shape to execute is just as important and impossible for outsiders to judge from a TV screen. Grumbling over towels as he did certainly doesn’t help his cause, but athletes can convey their mental fragility in different ways…

It’s easy to sit back and shrug, stating that these athletes are indeed millionaires, (or maybe not in the fringe of the NRL). But the fact of the matter is 9 months, as it was for some of the English cricketers over 2020 to 2021, in strict ‘biobubbles’ would inevitably impact on their mental health. To be locked into a biobubble (basically a spruced up friendly term for house arrest) and brought out to play in front of crowds like performing circus acts does not feel right for me, even in these ‘unprecedented times’. Yes, they still are well off financially, not suffering through pandemic struggles of keeping a small business afloat. But the toll of not being able to see their young families a matter of a few miles away is still a real and significant problem. Throw in the pressure of bad performances, and backlash over defeats and you have a dangerous cocktail. Will it take the suicide of a sportsman in one of these bubbles for people to pay more attention? I fail to see how after 2 weeks of isolation, negative tests and being fully vaccinated, players can’t simply play and then live their lives according to the same rules as the general public. At least now when players like cricketer Ben Stokes pull out of tours citing ‘bubble fatigue’ (who would have understood that term two years ago?) there is a general sense of support rather than condemnation.

Ultimately, from a selfish point of view, I have loved that I’ve had some wonderful sport to watch to get me through another lockdown. I thank the athletes involved, and am keen for the days ahead where they can freely travel in between plying their craft. Stay safe everyone!

featured image from metro.co.uk via EPA