Naomi Osaka Opened Up About Life as a New Mom

Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka (R) and US singer Cordae arrive for the 2021 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on September 13, 2021 in New York. - This year's Met Gala has a distinctively youthful imprint, hosted by singer Billie Eilish, actor Timothee Chalamet, poet Amanda Gorman and tennis star Naomi Osaka, none of them older than 25. The 2021 theme is "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion." — (Image credit: Photo by Angela Weiss / Getty)

Naomi Osaka welcomed her daughter Shai with partner Cordae earlier this year.

The tennis champ, who has been super open about her mental health difficulties in the past, just sat down with the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek H. Murthy to discuss a bunch of super topical subjects, including the pressures of being a woman of color in the public arena, kids' mental health, and Osaka's experience as a new mom.

During the chat, the athlete talked about how wonderful it's been adapting to life with Shai.

"I would say the joys there's so many," she told Dr. Murthy. "Just seeing her face and she's kind of puffy. She's in her puffy phase. So I just like to poke her cheeks. She's so cute.

"But I would say there's so many joys that I didn't even know was a joy, putting little outfits on her and things like that. Like it really makes my day."

Obviously, there have also been many difficulties associated with this time in Osaka's life.

"I would say there's stress that I also didn't know about," she said. "Like I am an overthinker. So sometimes I'm like, hmm, I wonder if I'm going to be a good enough mom and things like that and everything feels really new."

Asked what she wished for Shai's future, the tennis pro said, "I just want her to be a kind person. Like someone that radiates, like, positivity and joy. Like, I know that's something that I can't really control.

"I want her to grow up like knowing she's loved and appreciated. And I think that that's all that I can do." Love that.

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Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.