Paris. After the heated and apparently underestimated discussions about her controversial boycott of the press conferences, tennis superstar Naomi Osaka has announced her withdrawal from the French Open. The 23-year-old Japanese announced her decision on Monday evening via Twitter and at the same time revealed that she had been struggling with long periods of depression for several years. Osaka will no longer play for her second round match in Paris against the Romanian Ana Bogdan.
This is a situation that she could never have imagined and that she never intended, wrote Osaka. “I think it is now for the best for the tournament, the other players and my own well-being that I withdraw so that everyone can focus on the current tennis scene in Paris again.”
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Shortly before the start of the French Open, Osaka announced via Instagram that she did not want to talk to the media in Paris. The reason given by the number two in the world was that journalists would not consider the mental health of athletes. But it was not concrete.
After her first round win against the Romanian Patricia Maria Tig, Osaka did not appear for the mandatory press conference on Sunday, as announced. She was then fined $ 15,000 by the organizers of the French Open. For further offenses, the makers of the four Grand Slams had announced further, much tougher sanctions, including exclusion from the French Open and a ban on other Grand Slam tournaments.
Osaka said in her written communication that she has suffered from depression since the 2018 US Open. At that time she had won the New York final against Serena Williams. In the second set of the final there was a scandal in which Williams was punished by the referee with a game deduction. Osaka could hardly enjoy their first Grand Slam triumph and burst into tears at the award ceremony.
You have had a very hard time dealing with it, Osaka wrote on Twitter. In principle, she is more of an introverted person and usually wears headphones on the tennis courts, which would help her deal with her social fears. She is not a natural speaker and finds it very difficult to speak publicly.
Osaka announced that they want to take a break from tennis first. It seems more than unlikely that she will take on the next Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon at the end of the month. “But when the time is right, I really want to work with the tour to discuss how to improve the situation for the players, the press and the fans,” wrote Osaka.
Your words have weight and substance
The ladies tour has to do without its new flagship. Hardly a week has passed in the past few months without any news from Osaka. Here is a new cover shoot, there is another sponsorship contract. The 23-year-old Japanese is the tennis superstar that the WTA Women’s Tour has longed for for so long. There is still Serena Williams, but there is a big gap behind the now 39-year-old American.
Unlike the men, where thanks to a clever marketing strategy behind Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic with players like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem or Alexander Zverev, new faces have positioned themselves. The constantly changing Grand Slam tournament winners testify to an exciting competition, but for a long time did not contribute to a player being able to position himself as a new figurehead.
It was not until Osaka, now a four-time Grand Slam tournament winner and the highest-paid athlete in the world with an estimated annual income of $ 37 million, that she slipped into the role of the industry’s new role model. Mainly because Osaka, father from Haiti and mother from Japan, also has something to say off the pitch.
Last year she caused a stir at the tournament, which was moved from Cincinnati to New York, when she initially failed to make it to the semifinals to draw attention to police violence against blacks in the USA. All matches were canceled that day. At the US Open that followed, she wore a mask around every game on which the name of a victim was written.
Osaka’s words have weight and substance – all the more sad that she has been struggling with depression for a long time and will now withdraw from the public eye for the time being. (dpa)
