Andy Murray sympathizes with Naomi Osaka over mental health concerns, says he found it hard to deal with the press as a young player

Naomi Osaka caused a stir earlier this month when she announced she would skip press conferences at the 2021 Roland Garros to protect her mental health. The subsequent backlash compelled the 23-year-old to withdraw from the tournament altogether after her first-round match.

Osaka, who also revealed she had been suffering from depression since 2018, went on to withdraw from the upcoming Wimbledon as well.

In a recent interview, former World No. 1 and three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray voiced his support for Naomi Osaka. The Brit claimed that in his early years he was similarly unprepared to deal with the pressure of being a top athlete in the spotlight.

"I've obviously dealt with a lot of injuries in the last few years which has been tough mentally, but when I was younger dealing with the pressure of playing high level sport is not something that you're prepared for," Murray told Sky News.

"I appreciate that I'm very lucky - I get to play sport and stuff and there are people who are in significantly worse positions than multi-million pound tennis players, but I think unless you've been in that situation people wouldn't understand."

Andy Murray

Murray claimed he found it very hard to go from a relative unknown to the center of attention in the tennis world, and admitted he struggled to "deal with the press side of things".

"Going from an 18-year-old playing in front of no people to all of a sudden playing on Wimbledon Centre Court and being commented on your personality and how you might look and how you might talk. When you're 19/20 you're not prepared for that and it's a big change," he said.

"Earlier on in my career I did find it harder dealing with the press side of things and the attention, whereas now I have a quite different perspective on things so it's fine. But I can certainly understand how athletes do struggle with it," Murray added.

How Naomi Osaka's decision could impact her ranking

Naomi Osak at the 2020 US Open

Naomi Osaka recently announced her withdrawal from the grasscourt Major, but revealed she plans on representing Japan at the Olympics later this year.

BREAKING: Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from Wimbledon. A statement from her team says: "Naomi won’t be playing Wimbledon this year. She is taking some personal time with friends and family. She will be ready for the Olympics and is excited to play in front of her home fans."

— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) June 17, 2021

The World No. 2's decision could have a major impact on her ranking. Naomi Osaka lost in the first round at Wimbledon in 2019, so she could have gained plenty of points by participating this year.

Moreover, her decision to play in the Olympics could result in her potentially missing WTA 1000 events in Montreal and Cincinnati in August. The Rogers Cup is set to begin on 9 August, a day after the Olympics ends, with the Western & Southern Open scheduled a week later.

If Osaka makes a deep run at the Olympics, she could pull out of the aforementioned WTA 1000 events. That would result in the Japanese dropping all the points from her quarterfinal finish at the Rogers Cup in 2019, and her runners-up finish at the Western and Southern Open last year.

Osaka will also be defending 2000 ranking points at the US Open, having won the title in New York last year.