Mentality plays such a huge factor in sports. It is where most athletes derive their will to push boundaries and give it their all. But, it can suffer and crumble at times which makes them step back from doing the thing that they love. Naomi Osaka does not want this to happen to future athletes around the world and at Flushing Meadows. This is why she joined forces with Michael Phelps during her heartwarming return at the US Open.

Naomi Osaka is back at Flushing Meadows! But, it is not because she will duke it out with other stars in the hard court major. She instead gave a talk about how her feelings have been since her time away. Osaka went into further detail and even unveiled the feeling of loneliness during her recent pregnancy, via Howard Fendrich of AP Sports.

“I’m not going to play forever. I have to embrace the times and I’ve been playing tennis since I was 3. But, I don’t think I can predict what I’ll do — I never am able to do that — but it definitely made me appreciate a lot of things that I took for granted,” Osaka said during her time away from the sport. She also outlined the stressors and anxiety-inducing events that led to her French Open withdrawal.

Michael Phelps, on the other hand, talked about a really dark time in his life, “I literally didn’t talk about anything I was going through with my own family for 10 years, and then it just — I was a volcano that erupted,” Phelps said. “Instead of talking about it, I just let it build.”

A lot of our beloved athletes tend to struggle in fighting battles outside of the confines of competition. Fans should not make life harder for them