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Louise Thomas
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Naomi Osaka has denied rumors that she’s pregnant while opening up about her experience giving birth.
The 26-year-old tennis star took to TikTok on August 18 to address the pregnancy speculation, replying to a fan who asked her if she was “expecting again” in the comments of her previous video. In her TikTok video, Osaka didn’t hesitate to clarify that these rumors are not true.
“I just want to say I’m not pregos,” she said in her TikTok video.
The Grand Slam champion also pointed out that she doesn’t plan on having many more children in the future. “If I was [pregnant], I wouldn’t want many more because giving birth was traumatic. But thank you, though, for your blessings.”
In the caption, she simply added: “Ty for your best wishes? I guess?”
Last year, Osaka gave birth to her first baby – a girl named Shai – with rapper Cordae. Although she described childbirth as traumatic on TikTok, she’s previously opened up about how it was still a meaningful experience for her.
During an interview withGlamour in January, she acknowledged how she felt “so strong” after welcoming her child. She further pointed out that the experience encouraged her to care less about what others think.
“People talk about childbirth, but it’s different once you experience it. I just feel like I can do anything and nothing will bother me, and the pain tolerance has definitely increased a lot from that,” she explained. “I just don’t really care about other people’s opinions anymore.”
She also previously opened up about the challenges she faced during her pregnancy, specifically when her baby’s due date was fast approaching.
“I don’t think people know how hard pregnancy is; no one really talks about it as much,” she explained to InStyle in December. “Going into it, you kind of think: ‘Oh, it’s this beautiful journey.’ But it’s kind of rough.”
She then recalled her experience going into labor and how at one point during it, her doctors told her she had to push her baby out fast.
“I do remember feeling in that moment, ‘This is the worst pain of my life. And I know that if I get through this, then everything else will feel very easy,’” she said, before recalling the “huge adjustment period” she had after welcoming her child. “It was life-changing in a day. From the moment that you come back home from the hospital, everything’s different.”
In January, Osaka first resumed competing on the WTA Tour, after taking a 15-month break. Last week, she competed in the second round of qualifying for the Cincinnati Open, which she lost against Ashlyn Krueger.
Following her loss, Osaka took to Instagram to address some of the physical challenges she’s been facing throughout her tennis career.
“My biggest issue currently isn’t losses though, my biggest issue is that I don’t feel like I’m in my body,” she wrote in her post, shared on August 13. “It’s a strange feeling, missing balls I shouldn’t miss, hitting balls softer than I remember I used to. I try to tell myself, ‘It’s fine you’re doing great. Just get through this one and keep pushing’, mentally it’s really draining through. Internally, I hear myself screaming, ‘What the hell is happening?!?!’”
She also acknowledged how she could still be adjusting to being on the tennis court again after giving birth.
“I’ve played a handful of matches this year that I felt like I was myself and I know this moment is probably just a small phase from all the new transitions (clay, grass, clay, hard), however the only feeling I could liken how I feel right now to is being post-partum,” she continued. “That scares me because I’ve been playing tennis since I was three, the racket should feel like an extension of my hand.”
Although she said she did not understand why everything about her game felt “almost brand new” again, she still loves the process of “putting in work every day and eventually having the opportunity to get where you want to be.”
Osaka continued: “I want to teach my daughter that she can achieve so many things with hard work and perseverance. I want her to aim for the stars and never think her dreams are too big..”
