Naomi Osaka is threatened with disqualification at the French Open if she continues her press boycott. The organizers announced this after the opening victory of the four-time Grand Slam winner.
“We have informed Naomi Osaka that she will face possible further consequences if she continues to ignore her media duties during the tournament,” said the French tennis association FFT and initially fined Osaka $ 15,000: “As expected , repeated violations result in tougher sanctions, up to and including exclusion from the tournament. “
Previously, the 23-year-old had beaten the Romanian Patricia Maria Tig 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 4) in the first round of the French Open – and then only broke her announced silence for a short interview on the field. As previously announced, Osaka stayed away from the mandatory press conference.
Ashleigh Barty: Public Relations “Part of the Job”
The title holder of the US Open and the Australian Open announced before her start in Paris that she would not speak to the media to draw attention to the mental health of athletes.
Your announcement caused divided reactions. Without the media, “we probably wouldn’t be the athletes we are today,” said Paris record champion Rafael Nadal in the run-up to the tournament. World number one Ashleigh Barty emphasized that for her, press work was “part of the job”.
