TTennis star Naomi Osaka won’t play at Wimbledon. She wanted to take time for joy and family, it said on Thursday in a statement from her agent Stuart Duguid. Osaka had last given up at the French Open in Paris before her second round game and then made it public that she repeatedly suffered from depression.
This was preceded by a dispute over a media boycott of Osaka, which she announced shortly before the start of the French Open in order to draw attention to the mental health of athletes. The tournament officials in Paris threatened the Japanese with the exclusion if she did not meet her media obligations.
Nadal and Thiem not at the Olympics
As a consequence, Osaka did not appear in their second round match and openly addressed problems with depression. She also withdrew her participation in the current lawn tournament in Berlin. Osaka announced that it is ready for the Olympics. She is looking forward to playing in front of the home fans.
Rafael Nadal had previously announced that he would forego the classic lawn at Wimbledon. Nadal (35) gave physical complaints as the reason. The Spanish Grand Slam record winner will also not compete at the Olympics in Tokyo.
Dominic Thiem also announced on Thursday that he would not take part in the games. “I don’t feel ready to do my best in Tokyo”. On Instagram, the fifth in the world ranking from Austria wrote: “For me, as for all athletes, it is a great honor to take part in the Olympic Games and to represent my country. That makes the decision all the more difficult. “
Clay court king Nadal failed last Friday in the semi-finals of the French Open against eventual tournament winner Novak Djokovic. With that, “two months of great effort” had come to an end for him, emphasized Nadal. The fact that this time there was only a two-week break until Wimbledon because of the postponement of Roland Garros did not “make it easier for his body to recover after the always demanding clay court season”. Nadal had triumphed at Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010.
Above all, Nadal regretted his decision not to attend the Olympic Games. They “always meant a lot” to him and enjoyed “priority” in his sporting life. He always found the “spirit that every athlete in the world wants to live”. Nadal took part in three Olympic Games, in 2008 he won gold in singles in Beijing, in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro he carried the Spanish flag at the opening ceremony, “an honor”, as he wrote.
However, the 35-year-old is not thinking of an end to his career. His decision to forego Wimbledon and the Olympics should be seen “in the medium and long term”. It is rather his “goal to extend my career and continue to do what makes me happy, namely to compete at the highest level and continue to fight for these professional and personal goals at the highest level”.
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