Naomi Osaka, the second-ranked women tennis player in the world, withdrew from the French Open after a power struggle with French Open organizers over whether she would attend obligatory press conferences.
The incident took place last week when Naomi Osaka shared a post on her Twitter stating that she wouldn’t be taking part in press conferences during the French Open, to protect her mental health.
“I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes mental health,” she wrote.
After declining to speak to the press conference, the highest-paid female athlete in the world
was fined $15,000 and threatened with expulsion by tournament organizers.
Instead of getting intimidated by the unfair response by Roland Garros, the tennis star herself decided to quit the tournament.
“We’re often sat there and asked questions that we’ve been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds,” Naomi wrote in her May 27 post.
The 23-year-old star also mentioned that she had been dealing with mental health issues since the 2018 US Open.
If we take a brief look at Naomi’s interaction with the press in the past few years, it becomes easier for one to understand her press-phobia.
Here are a few exchanges that stood out:
1. “How hard is it not to have that in your head?”
After her loss to Kazakh tennis player Yulia Putintseva during the 2019 Wimbledon tournament, Osaka was probed by reporters with questions such as;
“When you play someone who you’ve lost to so recently, how hard is it not to have that in your head?”
“Do you think because you’re younger, it can be difficult to be consistent at this age?”
“How do you go about restoring your confidence after this? What do you do over the next few days to pick yourself up?”
This session with the press really got to Naomi as she reportedly told one of the organizers that “I feel like I’m about to cry” and was escorted out of the press conference.
2. “Tell us, in Japanese.”
As a Japanese athlete of mixed Japanese and Haitian descent, her ethnicity has prompted questions of how “Japanese” she may be and she’s been asked by various outlets to exhibit her bilingual skills.
Not only that but Naomi is also been ridiculed for her Name as after the 2018 U.S. Open, one reporter asked how Osaka’s last name could be the same as the city she was born in.
“Your last name is Osaka, you were born in Osaka, which is a bit strange because your father is a Haitian. How come that your last name is the same name of the city, but your father?”
3. “We can’t wait for the next name of a murdered person you put on your mask?”
During last year’s U.S. Open, Osaka wore seven masks each bearing the name of a Black person victimized in the United States.
Even her act of solidarity and sensitivity was mocked by extremely insensitive remarks by a few media and sports personnel.
World No.1 doubles Australian player Rennae Stubbs said during a press conference she had been “trying to guess what name is going to be on the mask every single day and can’t wait for that next mask.”
Darren Rovell, a sports business reporter at the Action Network also tweeted, “We can’t wait for the next name of a murdered person you put on your mask? I mean, I don’t think any person in the world had that thought. I guess I was wrong.”
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