Naomi Osaka issues blunt response to critics labeling her 'mentally weak'

Naomi Osaka recently responded to critics who have labeled her as "mentally weak ." Osaka has been a strong advocate for mental health awareness and has previously talked about her own mental health struggles

Osaka last competed on the North American hard court swing where she played at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and the Miami Open. She lost in the first round to Camila Osorio in California and then had a decent run in Miami, defeating Yuliia Starodubtseva, Liudmila Samsonova, and Hailey Baptiste in the first three rounds, respectively before falling to Jasmine Paolini in the fourth round.

Following her campaign at the Miami Open, Naomi Osaka has shifted her focus to the clay court season. She has been training at her coach Patrick Mouratoglou's tennis academy in France to prepare for it.

Osaka recently took to social media to address critics who call her "mentally weak," sharing that she now laughs off their remarks.

"I laugh every time someone calls me mentally weak lol," Osaka posted on x (formerly known as Twitter).

Naomi Osaka's best result this season was finishing as the runner-up at the ASB Classic, where she withdrew from the final match during the first set against Clara Tauson due to an abdominal injury.

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Naomi Osaka next expected to compete at Madrid Open 2025

Naomi Osaka at the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open [Image Source: Getty Images]

Naomi Osaka is expected to kick off her clay court swing at the 2025 Madrid Open which is scheduled to run from April 22 to May 4, 2025. The matches of the tournament will be held on the outdoor clay courts at Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain.

Last year, Osaka used her protected ranking to secure a spot in the main draw of the WTA 1000 clay court event. She started strong by defeating lucky loser Greet Minnen 6-4, 6-1 in the opening round, but then got eliminated in the second round, losing to 15th seed Liudmila Samsonova with a score of 2-6, 6-4, 5-7.

Osaka's best run at the Madrid Open was in 2019 when she reached the quarterfinals. She was the top seed and she began her campaign by defeating Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 7-6(6) in the first round.

The four-time Grand Slam champion continued her winning streak by overcoming wild card Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-0, and Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the third and fourth rounds, respectively. However, her campaign came to an end in the quarterfinals when she lost to Belinda Bencic, who defeated with a score of 6-3, 2-6, 5-7.