The Duchess of Sussex has secretly expressed her support for Osaka after the tennis star withdrew from the French Open in May to preserve her mental well-being. Osaka just penned a powerful essay for TIME where she thanked numerous celebrities who reached out to her and gave her encouraging messages following her withdrawal.
“I want to thank everyone who supported me. There are too many to name, but I want to start with my family and friends, who have been amazing. There is nothing more important than those relationships. I also want to thank those in the public eye who have supported, encouraged and offered such kind words,” the 23-year-old athlete wrote. “Michelle Obama, Michael Phelps, Steph Curry, Novak Djokovic, Meghan Markle, to name a few.”
“Michael Phelps told me that by speaking up I may have saved a life. If that’s true, then it was all worth it,” she added.
Markle is a big fan of tennis and she has even attended several tennis tournaments. She has attended Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to support her friend, Serena Williams. She also attended Wimbledon twice in 2018 and 2019 with her sister-in-law, Kate Middleton.
Osaka withdrew from the French Open after she faced penalties and fines for her decision to boycott media. Prior to the French Open’s start in late May, she already said she would not be doing press conferences during the championship in an effort to preserve her mental health.
She picked up her first win and a $15,000 fine for not participating in the media requirements, People reported. Osaka made a statement about her withdrawal from the competition on Instagram and explained her decision.
“Hey everyone, this isn’t a situation I ever imagined or intended when I posted a few days ago. I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris,” she wrote.
“I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer. More importantly I would never trivialize mental health or use the term lightly.”
She went on to explain that she has suffered bouts of depression since the U.S. Open in 2018 and has been struggling to cope with it. She admitted that she’s not a public speaker and she would get anxious before she would speak to the media that’s why she decided to skip the press meetings.
“I get really nervous and find it stressful to always try to engage and give you the best answers I can. So here in Paris I was already feeling vulnerable and anxious so I thought it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences,” she explained.
Osaka’s hopeful that when the time is right, she could work with the Tour to make things better for the players, press and fans.