Tennis player, Naomi Osaka has on Monday, May 31 announced her withdrawal from French Open following the bitter fall-out from her decision to boycott all media activity.
Few days ago, tennis officials fined the star player $15,000 after she said she would not do media interviews during the tournament, saying she was prioritising her mental health.
In a statement today, Osaka also said she “suffered long bouts of depression” since being catapulted into the national spotlight after a controversial victory over Serena Williams in U.S. Open of 2018.
She was fined by Grand Slam organizers for skipping a news conference following her first-round win at French Open on Sunday and was also warned of possible expulsion from Roland Garros and future majors if she fails to meet her media commitments.
In the run-up to the claycourt major, the four-time Grand Slam champion and sport’s highest-earning female athlete announced she would boycott news conferences while in Paris to raise awareness of players’ mental well-being, saying the nature of questions from journalists is like “kicking a person when they are down”.
The board of the four Grand Slams said in a statement on Sunday that the French Open organizers had asked Osaka to reconsider her position and tried unsuccessfully to speak with her to resolve the matter.
Reacting to this, the world number two wrote on Twitter;
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.
Read her Full statement below;
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. 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.
The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that. Anyone that knows me knows I’m introverted, and anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I’m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety. Though the tennis press has always been kind to me (and I wanna apologize especially to all the cool journalists who I may have hurt), I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media.
She stressed;
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. I announced it preemptively because I do feel like the rules are quite outdated in parts and I wanted to highlight that. I wrote privately to the tournament apologizing and saying that I would be more than happy to speak with them after the tournament as the Slams are intense. I’m gonna take some time away from the court now, but when the time is right I really want to work with the Tour to discuss ways we can make things better for the players, press and fans. Anyways hope you are all doing well and staying safe, love you guys I’ll see you when I see you.
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) May 31, 2021
Naomi Osaka’s coach says she is using her superstar status to force change with her controversial media boycott at the French Open.
“Naomi has the opportunity to use her status to address problems and to initiate things,” Osaka’s Belgian coach, Wim Fissette told German magazine Der Spiegel.
Earlier this year, the Japanese superstar won the fourth Grand Slam title of her career at the Australian Open but has never got past the third round of French Open.
