If you had doubts about the motives of Naomi Osaka, it is time to forget them. If you wondered if maybe, beyond the message and the sentiment, there was something else going on, it is time to let that go.
On Monday, after a whirlwind few days where talking – or not talking – became the focal point of the French Open, Osaka dramatically withdrew from the event.
Osaka’s decision ended any ungenerous suspicion there might have been, any careless wonderings that her decision not to talk to the media might have been something other than an attempt to protect her own mental health and raise an issue she felt important.
Maybe it shouldn’t have come to this. Maybe there should have been a solution other than the world’s No. 2 player and a four-time Grand Slam champion feeling she needed to get out of Paris and eliminate herself from one of the year’s four majors to show this was legit.
Either way, Osaka owned the moment. If you care about something enough to take a stand against it, the ultimate proof that your intentions are on point is by making a sacrifice. The 23-year-old did just that, forfeiting prize money, ranking points and the potential to add to her glittering career resume because, to her, this was more important.
“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,” Osaka wrote in a statement. “I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and message could have been clearer.”
Just days before the tournament began, Osaka had posted on social media that she would not attend mandatory post-match press conferences at this year’s French Open.
Such media opportunities run the full gamut, from insightful discussions about tactics and technique, dull affairs filled with tired questions and paper-thin answers, light-hearted joke-fests brimming with mirth and, occasionally, tearful meltdowns when the pain of discussing defeat becomes as sharp as the loss itself.
Both the men’s ATP and women’s WTA Tours require players to speak to the media if they are requested, which a player of Osaka’s standing always is, or else be subject to a fine. Osaka doesn’t like doing them. They make her uncomfortable and it shows. Her answers are usually brief to the point of awkwardness. It is hard to watch at times.
Her move sparked a storm of reaction. There were some inappropriately harsh critiques that felt she was co-opting the fight to raise mental health awareness for her own ends. Some pointed out dealing with the media is part of the job in tennis, a sport that relies heavily on the exposure its biggest stars receive to remain relevant in a crowded athletics landscape.
Others strongly defended her position and insisted the issuance of a fine and the threat of expulsion from this and future tournaments for not wanting to speak to the press was inappropriate.
Some, including women’s tennis and equality icon Billie Jean King, were torn.
“While it’s important that everyone has the right to speak their truth, I have always believed that as professional athletes we have a responsibility to make ourselves available to the media,” King told the Los Angeles Times, when asked about the Osaka situation. “In our day, without the press, nobody would have known who we are or what we thought. There is no question they helped build and grow our sport to what it is today.”
It was becoming a hot button topic. Osaka won her first round match against Patricia Maria Tig on Sunday, and was true to her word by avoiding the press conference, earning her a $15,000 fine. She was due to play Ana Bogdan in the second round on Wednesday. The clay of the French Open is not Osaka’s preferred playing surface, but she is also talented enough that she is a leading contender in any tournament she enters.
After the match, the four Grand Slam tournament directors issued a joint statement pointing out that Osaka would face further sanctions should she continue her boycott.
So, she withdrew, and included in her statement details of how she has suffered depression and anxiety since winning the U.S. Open in 2018, revealing that speaking at press conferences makes her nervous.
“I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world’s media,” Osaka continued. “I find it stressful to always try and engage and give … the best answers I can.”
As a journalist, having access to athletes and the ability to ask them what they are thinking is a critical part of serving as a pipeline between each sport and those who support it. In American sports, access to locker rooms is granted. The reality that fans love to know about what is going on in their idols’ lives has never been more present. It is a rare sports fan these days that likes nothing more than the games themselves, and is disinterested in all the surrounding paraphernalia.
Yet there must be a solution better than a fine being levied for players who are less comfortable than others at handling such scenarios, especially if it gets to a stage where their sense of well-being is affected. Representing Japan, being covered by a huge media contingent from that country each time she plays, and as the highest paid female athlete in the world, Osaka is constantly under the microscope.
Yes, it is part of the job. The relationship between tennis and the media is a critical one. Frankly, in tennis, the sport needs it more than the media industry does. But there has to be a more equitable way than it being a case of “comply or be punished.” A better option than a top player feeling she had no choice but to go.
When Osaka announced her decision before the event, she had little idea how things would be portrayed in some quarters, that it could be seen by some as a selfish gesture or as trivializing mental health issues.
She didn’t like how the narrative played out, so she decided to do something about it. Sure, it is “just” a tennis tournament, but as one of the cornerstones on the calendar, it is also one of those times young players grow up dreaming about.
What she gave up is not a small thing. Yet she did so anyway, and hopes to have discussions with tennis officals upon her return to action about how the rules might be altered to protect players in a similar position to hers.
You don’t have to agree with her, but you have to believe her now. Having the conviction to withdraw over the issue she highlighted is the ultimate empowering, legitimizing move.
Osaka didn’t win the tournament, but she won the day.
Here’s what others have said …
Dan Wetzel, Yahoo Sports: “This is modern society running up against an ancient sport … Finding ways to protect star players, and even help them excel, should be a goal of everyone involved in the sport.”
Dan Wolken, USA Today: “When you take a shy, sometimes awkward and mostly unknown young person who isn’t even 21 years old, turn them into a global sports superstar almost overnight, make them the highest-earning female athlete on the planet and have them represent a country that has never claimed a tennis player of such magnitude, there is no playbook.”
Gilles Moretton, President, French Tennis Federation: “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 Naomi in our tournament next year.” |
