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The 26-year-old had her first child, Shai, last July, before coming back to tennis after a 15 month break in January of this year.

Following her most recent loss to American Ashlyn Krueger at the Cincinnati Open this week, the four-time Grand Slam champion took to social media to shed light on how she is feeling.

“My biggest issue currently isn’t losses though, my biggest issue is that I don’t feel like I’m in my body,” Osaka says, referencing her defeat at that tournament, which would have served as ample preparation for the upcoming US Open.

“It’s a strange feeling, missing balls I shouldn’t miss, hitting balls softer than I remember I used to. I try and tell myself ‘it’s fine, you’re doing great, just get through this one and keep pushing,’ mentally it’s really draining though,” she adds.

While Osaka does acknowledge that she knows this feeling is probably just a “small phase from all the new transitions” in tennis, from clay courts to grass and hard, she also pinpoints what might be another reason behind this feeling.

“The only feeling I could liken how I feel right now is to being postpartum,” she says.

That reality is one that “scares” her, seeing as she’s been playing the sport for over 20 years.

“I’ve been playing tennis since I was three, the tennis racket should feel like an extension of my hand,” she says, continuing that she doesn’t understand “why everything has to feel almost brand new again.”

The tennis star then went on to detail that she did not give herself “grace for that fact until just now”, and that no matter the outcome of each particular match, she continues to love the process of training and competing.

“I know life isn’t guaranteed so I want to do the best that i can with the time that I have, I want to teach my daughter that she can achieve so many things with hard work and perseverance,” she says.

“I want her to aim for the stars and never think her dreams are too big,” she adds.

Osaka then concludes her statement with a look to the future.

“Nothing in life is promised, but i realised that I can promise myself to work as hard as I can and give it my best shot till the very end,” she says.

“See you in New York,” the statement finishes.

Osaka recieved an outpouring of support from the tennis community and beyond in response to her post.

“You are a great champion and will always be, Naomi,” French tennis player and fourth in the world ranked Caroline Garcia says.