PARIS — The week-long confrontation between Naomi Osakathe second-ranked woman in the world tennis rankings and leader of the sport’s four Grand Slams, became bitter Monday when Mme. Osaka withdrew from the French Open, citing concerns about her mental health.
The move marks a dramatic turning point in the high-stakes showdown between tennis’ most powerful officials and Mme. Osaka. The 23-year-old is not only the highest paid female athlete but also a generational star who quickly became the most magnetic figure in tennis.
“I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is for me to step aside so that everyone can focus again on the tennis taking place in Paris,” Ms. Osaka said in an Instagram post. which she said she struggled with depression and anxiety.
She had never spoken publicly about her depression, which she said began after her 2018 victory over Serena Williams at the U.S. Open in front of a noisy crowd that was firmly behind his opponent.
“I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer,” she added. “The truth is that I suffered from long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I had a lot of difficulty coping with it.” She did not indicate when she would return to the tournament.
It is the first time in professional tennis that a star as important as Ms. Osaka, who did not suffer any physical injury, leaves in the middle of an event as important as Roland-Garros, and Gilles Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation, described his withdrawal as “unfortunate”.
Mr Moretton said in a statement that tournament organizers wished him the “speediest possible recovery”.
“We are sorry and sad for Naomi Osaka,” he said. “We remain very committed to the well-being of all athletes and to continually improving all aspects of the player experience at our tournament, including with the media, as we have always strived to do.”
Ms. Osaka’s dispute with tournament officials began Wednesday when she announced that she would not participate in post-match news conferences at the French Open because she said negative questions about her game affected his mental health. This came to a head on Sunday after her first-round victory, and she kept her promise to skip the press conference.
Within hours, Ms. Osaka was fined $15,000 by Roland-Garros tournament refereeand the leaders of the four Grand Slam tournaments – the Australian Open, French Open, US Open and Wimbledon – threatened that she could be expelled from the French Open and face harsher sanctions if she did not fulfill not his media obligations.
Osaka described herself in her Instagram post on Monday as an introvert who suffers from anxiety before having to speak to the press. “Anyone who has seen me at tournaments will notice that I often wear headphones because it helps with my social anxiety,” she wrote.
She said journalists were never mean to her, but “here in Paris I already felt vulnerable and anxious, so I thought it was better to err on the side of caution and avoid press conferences.” .
Ms. Osaka’s sister, Mari, a former professional tennis player, said Naomi Osaka the anxiety was caused in part by his difficulties winning on clay courts like the French Open. The press asks about her sister’s poor performance every time she plays on clay, which hurts her, Mari Osaka said in an article on Reddit.
By avoiding press conferences, his sister could “block everything”. Don’t talk to people who might sow doubt in his mind.
Naomi Osaka said she wrote privately to tournament officials to apologize for the distraction she had created and offered to speak with them after the tournament about a possible rule change requiring players to interact with media she described as “outdated.” Before returning to the tour, she said, she would talk with tournament officials about ways to improve things for players.
This is not the first time that Ms. Osaka, who rarely grants one-on-one interviews with major media outlets, has taken a public position on an issue. Last summer, tennis officials suspended play at the Western & Southern Open after the four-time Grand Slam winner announced she would not play her semifinal to draw attention to the issue of violence. police against blacks after the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. , Wisconsin.
Although she skipped her post-match press conference on Sunday, Ms. Osaka answered three questions after the match from an on-court interviewer, Fabrice Santoro, and a few other questions as she left the Wowow court, the Japanese broadcaster with which she is under contract. Ms. Osaka plays for Japan and lives in the United States.
Some colleagues of Ms. Osaka showed unequivocal support for his position.
“Press, players and tournaments go hand in hand,” said two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka. “I think it’s very important to develop our sport, to promote our sport.” She added that there were times when the media needed to be more compassionate.
Ms. Williams has participated in many difficult press conferences during her career, but she credits these experiences with making her stronger. “I feel for Naomi and I wish I could give her a hug because I have been in these situations,” said the 23-time Grand Slam winner. “You have to let her handle things the way she wants, the best way possible.”
Tour officials have long believed that press conferences are an important part of promoting the sport and the athletes themselves. Ms. Osaka questions this assumption.
“If organizations think they can continue to say ‘put pressure on it or you’ll get fined’ and continue to ignore the mental health of the athletes who are the centerpiece of their cooperation, then I just have to laugh,” he said. she wrote on social networks on Wednesday.
Last week, the WTA Tour said it welcomed a dialogue with Ms Osaka on mental health, but maintained its stance on players’ press obligations. “Professional athletes have a responsibility to their sport and their fans to speak to the media around their competition, giving them the opportunity to share their perspective and tell their story,” the WTA said.
Ms Osaka is certainly not the only elite athlete to have admitted to mental health issues. Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps spoke openly about his difficulties with depression and suicidal thoughts. NBA player Kevin Love has Talk about have a panic attack during a match. Data shows that up to 35 percent of elite athletes have suffered a mental health crisis, such as stress, eating disorders, burnout, depression or anxiety, according to Athletes for Hopea group that seeks to involve athletes in charitable causes.
Although tournament officials gave Ms. Osaka a platform to demonstrate her beliefs last summer, this time the leaders of the sport’s most prestigious events refused to budge.
In the statement signed by Jayne Hrdlicka, Head of Tennis Australia; Mr. Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation; Ian Hewitt, president of the All England Lawn Tennis Club; and Mike McNulty, president of the United States Tennis Association, officials said they contacted Ms. Osaka to open a discussion about her well-being and concerns about the news conferences and her mental health.
Ms. Osaka, they said, refused to engage with them, leaving them no choice but to impose significant sanctions to ensure she did not gain an advantage over her competitors.
“We wish to emphasize that rules are in place to ensure that all players are treated exactly the same, regardless of their stature, beliefs or achievements,” the officials said. “As a sport, there is nothing more important than ensuring that no player is given an unfair advantage over another, which is unfortunately the case in this situation if a player refuses to dedicate time to participate in media engagements while others honor all their commitments.”
Since the inception of social media more than a decade ago, sports stars, politicians and celebrities, especially younger ones, have increasingly used it to speak directly to their fans. The pandemic, which forced almost all sports press conferences to be held virtually, accelerated the shift in power, making the events that led to Ms. Osaka’s withdrawal from the tournament even more surprising.
Sofia Kenin, the women’s player of the year in 2020, said she respected Osaka’s decision and acknowledged that the pressures of being a young star are intense.
“This is what you signed up for,” Ms. Kenin said. “It’s sport. There are expectations from outside, from sponsors and from everyone. You just have to manage it somehow.
Ms. Osaka said she plans to step away from the tennis court. She did not say whether she would participate in the next Grand Slam tournament, Wimbledon, which begins in just four weeks, just two weeks after the conclusion of the French Open.
Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament played on grass, another surface where Ms. Osaka’s performance has not matched her dominance on hard courts. She has never made it past the third round of Wimbledon, widely considered the sport’s most important championship.
“I’ll see you when I see you,” she wrote to end her Instagram post.
Michael Levenson in New York contributed reporting.
