Naomi Osaka opened up about her struggles with depression in announcing her withdrawal from the French Open because of the furore caused by her boycott of media duties.
The world No.2 won her opening match against Patricia Maria Tig on Sunday but her decision not to take part in press conferences or interviews has been the biggest talking point of the tournament.
The grand slams reacted strongly to Osaka’s move, releasing a joint statement on Sunday that, along with a fine of 15,000 US dollars (approximately $A19,400), threatened her with potential disqualification and a ban from future tournaments should she not reconsider.
Osaka wrote on Twitter: “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.”
Osaka said she had suffered bouts of depression since winning her first slam title at the US Open in 2018, when she lifted the trophy to a chorus of boos after opponent Serena Williams was awarded a game penalty, and that talking to the media triggered anxiety.
“I never wanted to be be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer,” she continued. “More importantly, I would never trivialise 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 apologise 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.”
Osaka’s sister Mari attempted to explain more about her sibling’s stance with a post on the website Reddit, highlighting her feelings of vulnerability on clay, but then deleted her words and replaced them with an apology, saying she felt she had made things worse.
Osaka’s Twitter post continued: “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“I announced it pre-emptively because I do feel like the rules are quite outdated in parts and I wanted to highlight that.
“I wrote privately to the tournament apologising 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.”
French Tennis Federation president Gilles Moretton read a statement to the press, saying: “First and foremost, we are sorry and sad for Naomi Osaka.
“The outcome of Naomi withdrawing from Roland Garros is unfortunate. We wish her the best and the quickest possible recovery and we look forward to having her at our tournament next year.
American Coco Gauff replied to Osaka’s tweet to express her support and admiration.
The world No.25 wrote: “Stay strong. I admire your vulnerability.”
Martina Navratilova tweeted her best wishes, saying: “I am so sad about Naomi Osaka. I truly hope she will be OK.
“As athletes we are taught to take care of our body, and perhaps the mental and emotional aspect gets short shrift. This is about more than doing or not doing a press conference. Good luck Naomi – we are all pulling for you!
“And kudos to Naomi Osaka for caring so much about the other players. While she tried to make a situation better for herself and others, she inadvertently made it worse. Hope this solution, pulling out, as brutal as it is will allow her to start healing and take care of her SELF.”
Wimbledon starts in four weeks and it remains to be seen whether Osaka, whose next tournament is scheduled to be in Berlin in two weeks’ time, will play on grass, where she has also struggled.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hi Kurt S. have two prizes/pays. One for ‘interviews included’ and and big decreased one for ‘no interview’.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
Hi JGK. I never take much from any of these in any sport. To me it mostly by the media, to say/show/imagine how great their coverage is. To me they are like the ‘walk of the footy field chat’ or camera in the change room, I don’t care. It’s like the morning tv shows saying endlessly how good they are, I zone out.
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
Osaka raked in more than $55 million in 2020, making her the highest-paid female athlete for the second consecutive year. That's definitely not enough for her to be able to answer a few hard questions from a bunch of journalists even when losing...
tsuru
Roar Rookie
And what Ash Barty did. And she seems to have recovered pretty well.
tsuru
Roar Rookie
Her mental health issues are tricky for those of us outside the professional game. There was an interesting angle presented today, our time, on the PBS news from the USA - ( https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-enormous-pressures-of-professional-sports-and-its-toll-on-players-mental-health ) . Zina Garrison talked about the pressure felt by the top players and tennis commentator Howard Bryant, after commenting that tennis players are out there on their own with no team mates to support them, made the point that the situation should not have happened the way it did - "And somewhere along the line, someone in her team could have said, we need to go to the French Federation and say: I'm not doing well. Is there a way — these press conferences are nowhere near worth having the number two player in the world not be there." And this should have happened behind closed doors. As for the pressure she feels, it was interesting to hear both of the above commentators referring to sponsors and even the player's team focussing the player on success. I think it is revealing to look at Ash Barty's on court interviews and post match conferences and to notice how she always talks about "we" (the team) and her frequent references to having fun with the team. Not to mention that she took herself out of tennis for 2 years for a mental break.
Johnno
Roar Rookie
Maybe 3 birds with 1 stone. To keep the time down, decrease pressure on players at media & to get better quality questions….have the questions submitted before the media interview so they can be reduced, seen by the player & made sure they are appropriate.
Mick Gold Coast QLD
Roar Guru
"ongoing micro-aggressions from colleagues and journalists" I like how you did not let "white people" off the hook. They are to blame for just ... well ... stuff ... for everything really. I try to feeeeel guilty about my colourlessness, honest I do. Oh I do enjoy the new world order terminology. :stoked: A micro-aggression from a colleague - is that when they are calling you horrid names in the change room and whispering them rather than shouting? Is a micro- aggressing journalist one who only writes three paragraphs about you, not twenty three? If Our Naomi throws a tantrum that is not like a full on Serena tantrum, clomping about threatening to k i l l linesmen because "I'm a mom"! and such, ... is that tiny tantrum a micro-tantrum? I would have though that $48 million earnings in calendar year 2020 would have eased her pain and helped keep the fashionable depressed state at bay.
Kerry Hanson
Guest
Prince Harry better keep his eye on her..I think she might be trying to steal his crown , as the worlds biggest drama queen .
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
The Tennis Association had to act, if Naomi doesn’t want to play by the rules, then she doesn’t play. I’d expect all players to be held to this standard. Interviews are part of the game, they are part of the sponsorship deals, part of the broadcast rights, they have always been, spectators watch games because of the players, they go to games in hope to see their players live, they watch it on tv to get a view of their players. It is why they get paid the big bucks. I am surprised that the article comments on Naomi being ‘introverted’, her stance is anything but introverted, Osaka’s rapper boyfriend Cordae, issued a defiant comment on her Instagram post announcing her withdrawal. “No need to apologise to ANYBODY!” he wrote. She has had a tendency to bring her issues (whatever they be) out on court, out in the open (excuse the pun), she wore BLM political masks on court, I also recall her and Cordae having courted controversy in the past with the US Open (trophy photo -middle finger). That’s all ok, but it comes at a cost.
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
Well then it’s not working ,she needs to find a better Shrink,money should be no problem , whatever it takes , otherwise retire and sort your life out,like the rest of us have to do
Crusher_13
Roar Rookie
Have you ever watched a press conference at a major? If not do a quick google image search. BNP PARIBAS, Perrier and a brand I don't recognise are very clearly advertising during the event. Part of their contract is that all players attend the press conference, they pay more to have the big names sit with their logos.
Kurt S
Roar Pro
Actually she is in part paid to do media interviews. The prizemoney and attendance fees comes in part from sponsorship. She also has an obligation to promote the individual tournament and the tour as a whole. How has this become a race issue with you?
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
Good point matth, but is Naomi adhereing to sound medical mental health advice.? I would be surprised if Players Association do not have a policy on this ,other wise they’d all be going off to get there head right.
Trung
Guest
Part of the reason why she makes money is due to the media/press duties. You can’t separate sporting and associated media duties. Sport make money because they sell athletes as stars. This happens when people do media duties. You can’t fire someone for having mental health issue but you can fire someone if it stops doing your duties I also think that vast approach of psychology on managing challenges like this isn’t changing the environment to suit the individual but changing the individual to develop skills so they become more adaptable to the environment There is no treatment of anxiety that advocates for individuals to stop doing what is triggering. However to change your mindset so that the event is no longer triggering. This is via exposure and response prevention therapy. While I do have empathy for her struggles the solution isn’t doing less press conference at least on the long term (may be acceptable for a short term measure at best). It is her creating a list of what she finds anxiety provoking and work on exposing herself to this list from the least anxiety provoking trigger and gradually up to the most anxiety provoking trigger until it is no longer anxiety provoking. Exempting her from this creates a bad message that anxiety isn’t treatable or curable (by the way it is) Of course if she finds press conference causing panic inducing it is unfair to go straight to this and she should take the time off for her to slowly work herself to reach the goal. However that should be the goal.
JGK
Roar Guru
Who's to say she isn't? Some things can't be solved with money.
farkurnell
Roar Rookie
Now there’s your problem JGK you’ve put Kyrgios an Osaka in the same Category. Seriously,Mental Health is a huge problem at all levels of Society.Maybe Naomi needs to channel some of those winnings onto some Shrinks that can help her on and off the court.,instead of appearing to throw her toys out of the cot.
Ben of Phnom Penh
Roar Guru
Statutory rights? Her rights are not being infringed. She signed a contract with obligations and remedies for default. These are being enforced. If the top 10 or 20 players decided to boycott then the organisers would no doubt have to undertake a review, as would sponsors. The reduced off-court activity from players would effect the value of sponsorships and broadcasting rights and prices would be adjusted accordingly. The likely result would be a devaluation of tennis, with players receiving less income as a result. Not a big issue for the top players but for those struggling further down the pecking order it would hurt.
JGK
Roar Guru
I reckon she would have been fine with that. But they threatened to kick her out of the tournaments if she repeat offended. So she called their bluff.
Prez
Roar Rookie
Broadcasters and sponsors are paying for content. Which comprises the games, press conferences and other interviews etc. And players get paid for this bundle of content. Maybe players should have the option to take less money just for playing?
JGK
Roar Guru
Even contractors have statutory rights. But even then, she isn't a contractor in the sense that you are referring to. Professional athletes ARE the product, they don't make the product. Tennis, being an individual sport, hasn't quite worked out how best to mobilise themselves as yet. But what do you think would happen if, before Wimbledon, the Top 10 or 20 players said that they won't play unless the rules around Press Conferences were changed?