The Japanese tennis star recently announced on social media that she will not partake in 'any press during Roland Garros.'
Naomi Osaka poses with her 2021 Australian Open title. Picture/ AFP
Press conferences are a part of the pre, during and post tournaments across sports, but tennis star Naomi Osaka will have none of that. The Japanese tennis star recently announced on social media that she will not partake in 'any press during Roland Garros.' According to Osaka, press conferences have 'no regard for athletes mental health'. She feels the questions asked sometimes 'bring doubt in our mind.'
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Naomi Osaka posted an image on micro-blogging site Twitter that read, "Hope you are all doing well, I'm writing this to say I am not going to do any press during Roland Garros. I've often felt that people have no regard for athletes mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one. We're often sat there and asked questions that we've been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt in our mind and I'm just not going to subject myself to people who doubt me."
She continued, "I've watched many clips of athletes breaking down after a loss in the press room and I know you have as well. I believe that the whole situation is kicking a person while they're down and I don't understand the reasoning behind it. Me not doing press is nothing personal to the tournament and a couple of journalists have interviewed me since I was young, so I have a friendly relationship with most of them."
"However, if the organisations think that they can just keep saying, "do press or you're going to be fined", and continue to ignore the mental health of the athletes that are the centrepiece of their cooperation then I just gotta laugh. Anyways, I hope the considerable amount that I get fined for this will go towards a mental health charity. xoxo," concluded Naomi.
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) May 26, 2021
The French Open 2021 season will get underway on May 30 and will end on June 13.
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