Women’s Tennis Star Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the French Open. In her statement issued through her social media page, Osaka said one of the primary reasons to withdraw is because she never wanted to be a distraction to the other competitors. The move comes after Osaka issued an announcement earlier in the tournament saying she would not be speaking to reporters during the French Open citing that she needed to protect her mental health.
The Grand Slam tournaments would fine Osaka 15k because of this and would also threaten her with harsher sections such as a default from the tournament if she continued to skip her media requirements.
A statement from the Four Grand tournament said that they reached out to Naomi Osaka and her team reminding her of the consequences she could face for skipping her media obligations in 2021.
Athletes and media personnel have taken to social media to support Osaka after her withdrawal announcement.
WNBA Star and Las Vegas Aces Center Liz Cambage said this:
“Doing media is forced upon us. it’s time to start protecting those that don’t want to speak…. let their game speak for them. being forced to do media shouldn’t be part of being an athlete.”
Tennis Star Coco Gauff gave words of encouragement and told Osaka to stay strong.
Joy Reid a political analyst for MSNBC had these supporting remarks to say.
“Prayers to you, young sister. Take care of YOU. You have already proved your greatness to the rest of us and your only debt is to your spirit.”
This move by Naomi Osaka will start the conversation about athletes and mental health. In society, players are often seen as superheroes or invisible. However, this situation is a grueling reminder that players are human too and should be treated as such.
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