{"id":186334,"date":"2021-06-07T12:00:30","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T11:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=186334"},"modified":"2021-06-05T07:26:06","modified_gmt":"2021-06-05T06:26:06","slug":"why-did-naomi-osaka-withdraw-from-the-french-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/06\/why-did-naomi-osaka-withdraw-from-the-french-open\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Did Naomi Osaka Withdraw from the French Open?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tennis player Naomi Osaka. Photo: TPN\/Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

1 Jun 2021 – <\/em>On Monday [31 May], tennis star Naomi Osaka dropped out of the French Open after a week of confrontation with tournament officials over whether she would participate in press events. In an Instagram<\/a> post, Osaka announced her decision to withdraw, citing mental-health concerns including depression and anxiety. As the New York Times<\/em> reports<\/a>, this is the first time a tennis player with the level of acclaim and attention as Osaka has quit this big of an event for reasons other than a physical injury. Osaka is currently the highest-paid female athlete<\/a> in the world, having surpassed fellow tennis star Serena Williams<\/a>, who held the title for four years, in 2019.<\/p>\n

So, what exactly happened?<\/p>\n

It started when Osaka said she wouldn\u2019t be participating in press.<\/h2>\n

Last week, four days before the French Open, Osaka announced she wouldn\u2019t take part in the tournament\u2019s media rigmarole. In a since-deleted Instagram post, Osaka said she felt like the process, especially after a loss, was like \u201ckicking a person while they are down,\u201d adding that she\u2019d watched too many people break down crying during press meetings. It\u2019s a fair and accurate assessment, as is evidenced by many<\/a> sports<\/a> press conferences<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the organizations think they can keep saying, \u2018Do press or you\u2019re going to get fined,\u2019 and continue to ignore the mental health of the athletes that are the centerpiece of their cooperation, then I just gotta laugh,\u201d Osaka wrote, per the Times<\/em><\/a>. She said she\u2019d accept any fines incurred from her choice and requested the money be donated to mental-health charities.<\/p>\n

Organization officials were not happy, to say the least. \u201cI think it\u2019s a phenomenal error,\u201d Gilles Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation, told French sports publication L\u2019\u00c9quipe<\/em><\/a>, as translated by the Times<\/em>. \u201cWhat is happening here is in my view not acceptable. There are rules. There are laws. We will stick to the laws and the rules on the penalties and the fines.\u201d He said the choice is \u201cvery damaging to sport, to tennis, to her probably,\u201d adding that \u201cshe\u2019s hurting tennis. It\u2019s a real problem.\u201d (Osaka is currently worth an estimated $55 million<\/a> with new brand deals<\/a> still rolling in. Suffice to say, I think she\u2019ll be just fine.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s far from the first time an athlete has expressed disinterest in participating in press interviews. A personal favorite protest of mine happened before the 2015 Super Bowl, when Seattle Seahawks player Marshawn Lynch responded to every single question on Media Day with the same answer: \u201cI\u2019m just here so I don\u2019t get fined.\u201d<\/a> He, indeed, was not fined. Osaka, however, did receive a financial penalty.<\/p>\n

When she skipped a postgame press conference, Osaka was fined $15,000.<\/h2>\n

After Osaka won her first-round match, she didn\u2019t come to the postgame press conference, just as she\u2019d said. As expected, Osaka incurred thousands of dollars in fines for not participating in the interviews. Then, officials insinuated there\u2019d be greater punishments if Osaka continued avoiding the press.<\/p>\n

In a statement<\/a> signed by leaders of the four Grand Slam tournaments, of which the French Open is one, Osaka was warned that she risked stronger consequences if she didn\u2019t show up to future press events as \u201crepeat violations attract tougher sanctions.\u201d She was threatened with larger fines and suspension from the tournament.<\/p>\n

However, Osaka didn\u2019t avoid the press altogether. After her win, Osaka answered a few questions during an on-court interview with Japanese broadcaster Wowow, which currently has a contract with the tennis player, as the Times<\/em> notes.<\/p>\n

In response to Osaka\u2019s comments on the impact press conferences can have on athletes\u2019 mental health, organization leaders deflected blame. In their statement, French Open officials said they \u201ctried unsuccessfully to speak with her to check on her well-being, understand the specifics of her issue and what might be done to address it on-site.\u201d Osaka has not responded directly to their comment.<\/p>\n

Osaka is not the only top tennis player to skip postgame news conferences. In 2015, Venus Williams was fined<\/a> $3,000 after declining to participate in a French Open news conference following a loss. In 2010, Venus and Serena Williams were fined<\/a> $4,000 each for skipping a Wimbledon news conference.<\/p>\n

Now, she\u2019s pulled out of the tournament altogether.<\/h2>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d Osaka wrote<\/a> in an Instagram post on Monday. \u201cI never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her announcement, Osaka also spoke about her mental health. \u201cThe truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the U.S. Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that,\u201d she said, referencing her 2018 win over Serena Williams<\/a> in which the crowd booed Osaka during the trophy ceremony. \u201cAnyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I\u2019m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety,\u201d she wrote. \u201cHere in Paris I was already feeling vulnerable and anxious so I thought it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moretton said her withdrawal was \u201cunfortunate\u201d and wished Osaka the \u201cquickest possible recovery,\u201d per the Times<\/em><\/a>. In a statement from organization leaders, he also said, \u201cWe are sorry and sad for Naomi Osaka. We remain very committed to all athletes\u2019 well-being and to continually improving every aspect of players\u2019 experience in our tournament, including with the media, like we have always strived to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is not the first time Osaka has withdrawn from an event. Last summer, Osaka said she wouldn\u2019t play her semifinal match in Cincinnati\u2019s Western & Southern Open in an effort to redirect attention to police brutality. Her decision came shortly after Jacob Blake was killed by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Osaka has previously spoken out about police violence against Black people. During the 2020 U.S. Open, Osaka wore different face masks<\/a>, each with the name of a Black person killed by police or vigilantes.<\/p>\n

Fellow athletes and celebrities have already spoken out in support of Osaka.<\/h2>\n

Other athletes have already expressed support<\/a> for Osaka\u2019s decision. \u201cStay strong. I admire your vulnerability,\u201d fellow tennis player Coco Gauff tweeted<\/a>. \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t ever have to make a decision like this,\u201d Steph Curry tweeted<\/a>, \u201cbut so damn impressive taking the high road when the powers that be don\u2019t protect their own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Serena Williams has expressed<\/a> mixed feelings on the pressure of interviews, she showed support for Osaka\u2019s decision to \u201chandle it the way she wants\u201d to preserve her mental health. \u201cI feel for Naomi,\u201d Williams added. \u201cI feel like I wish I could give her a hug because I know what it\u2019s like. I\u2019ve been in those positions.\u201d Earlier this year, Serena Williams left<\/a> a postgame conference in tears after losing to Osaka at the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Major brands and sports sponsors have also come out in support of Osaka\u2019s announcement. Nike, which has a sponsorship deal with the tennis player, released a statement<\/a> saying, \u201cOur thoughts are with Naomi. We support her and recognize her courage in sharing her own mental-health experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Osaka hasn\u2019t said when she plans to return to the court.<\/p>\n

Go to Original – thecut.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday [31 May], tennis star Naomi Osaka dropped out of the French Open after a week of confrontation with tournament officials over whether she would participate in press events. In an Instagram post, Osaka announced her decision to withdraw, citing mental-health concerns including depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":186335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[223],"tags":[378,234,734,1146,1683],"class_list":["post-186334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-journalism","tag-media","tag-mental-health","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}