AFP
The #2 ranked player in the Women’s Tennis Association, Naomi Osaka, announced her withdrawal from the French Open tournament this past Monday, citing mental health reasons.
In a statement posted via her socials, Osaka reasoned that she withdrew so that “everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris” and that she “would never trivialize mental health or use the term lightly.”
Osaka added that she had been experiencing “long bouts of depression” since the 2018 US Open and that she suffers “huge waves” of anxiety whenever she has to participate in press conferences. She concluded by saying she would take some time away from the court and hoped to work with the WTA to offer solutions to the problem.
This past Wednesday, Osaka caused quite a frenzy when she announced that she would not be doing any press during the Roland-Garros (French Open) in Paris.
In her initial announcement, Osaka criticized tennis organizations for having a “do press or you’re going to get fined” attitude towards the athletes.
After her first-round victory on Sunday, Osaka was fined $15,000 for skipping her mandatory post-match news conference. The four Grand Slam Tournaments later released a statement regarding their decision to fine the 23-year-old, outlining further punishments if she continued to skip her media obligations:
As might be expected, repeat violations attract tougher sanctions including default from the tournament (Code of Conduct article III T.) and the trigger of a major offence investigation that could lead to more substantial fines and future Grand Slam suspensions (Code of Conduct article IV A.3.),” the statement read.
As a sport there is nothing more important than ensuring no player has an unfair advantage over another, which unfortunately is the case in this situation if one player refuses to dedicate time to participate in media commitments while the others all honor their commitments.
Due to Osaka’s withdrawal, her scheduled second-round opponent Ana Bogdan will advance to the third round of the French Open.
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