She was threatened with deportation, and she will have finally taken the lead. “I think the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I step back so that everyone can refocus on tennis”, tweeted Naomi Osaka this Monday. By announcing this withdrawal from Roland-Garros, the world number 2 puts an end to a soap opera that has caused much ink to flow since the start of the tournament.
It all started last Thursday when the world number 2 threw a stone in the pond by refusing to participate in press conferences during the two weeks of the tournament. A refusal that she explains by a need to preserve her mental health. According to her, some questions from journalists, especially after a defeat, “Sow trouble” in his mind. She therefore prefers not “To submit to people who doubt her”.
Except that here, many specialized journalists did not hide their disappointment and their incomprehension. Some even felt insulted. The question was asked of all players who submitted to the traditional pre-tournament conferences on Friday. “What do you think ? Is the press bad for your mental health? ” Not surprisingly, nine out of ten responses played the political correctness card. “I respect his decision, but I also respect your work”, had decided Alexander Zverev, 6th in the ATP ranking, with a diplomacy worthy of a UN summit.
“We cannot take only what pleases us”
Among the rare dissonant voices, Caroline Garcia did not mince words on the decision of the Japanese player. The Frenchwoman recalled that when you are in the elite of world tennis, it is part of the job to answer questions from the press. “There are obligations, and we must keep them, we cannot take only what pleases us”, she said before pointing out that without the media, women’s tennis would not be the most popular women’s sport today.
Perhaps the hardest thing to swallow was this interview given to Fabrice Santoro on Sunday by Naomi Osaka. Questions in front of the public, in the middle of the Chatrier stadium, after his first victory 6-4, 7-6 (4). An interview all in complacency, the aim of which is more to heat up the stadium than to ask real questions. The Japanese journalists in the gallery have had a hard time having their champion submit to it by ignoring them when they have traveled thousands of kilometers to follow her course.
Still, the organization of Roland-Garros did not remain silent in the face of the player’s decision. With the support of the three other world Grand Slams, she fined him $ 15,000, and threatened to expel him from the tournament. Perhaps this is what convinced Naomi Osaka to give up her standoff.
“We are sorry and sad for Naomi Osaka. Naomi’s withdrawal from Roland Garros is an unfortunate outcome. We wish her the best and the fastest possible recovery and hope to see Naomi again at our tournament next year ”, however, declared the president of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton, in the evening.
In his message on Twitter, the athlete apologizes for the pataques, in particular to “Cool journalists” what “May have hurt”, and is explained. She talks about the bouts of depression she’s been dealing with since the 2018 US Open and her “Social anxiety” which overwhelms her whenever she has to show up in front of reporters. Obviously, the case will not have left her unscathed since she announced “A little time away from the courts”, while promising to come back.
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