Naomi Osaka.Photo: MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty
Naomi Osakahas been issued her first fine fornot participating in post-match interviewsduring the French Open — as well as a grave warning about more serious consequences she may face if she continues to skip out on press conferences.
On Sunday, days after the 23-year-old tennis star announced she wouldn’t be doing press during the championship in an effort to preserve her mental health, Osaka picked up her first win and a $15,000 fine.
The board of Grand Slam tennis tournaments alsoreleased a statementon Sunday, warning that she could face possible expulsion in the future.
“Naomi Osaka announced last Wednesday on social media that she would not participate in the mandatory media interviews at Roland-Garros 2021,” read the joint statement from the French Open as well as the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, and Australian Open.
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Naomi Osaka.Javier Garcia/BPI/Shutterstock
Repeat violations could include “default from the tournament” as well as “more substantial fines and future Grand Slam suspensions.”
In the statement, the board of Grand Slam tennis tournaments also called speaking with the media a “core element of the Grand Slam regulations.”
“We want to underline that rules are in place to ensure all players are treated exactly the same, no matter their stature, beliefs, or achievement,” they wrote. “As a sport, there is nothing more important than ensuring no player has an unfair advantage over another, which unfortunately is the case in this situation if one player refuses to dedicate time to participate in media commitments while the others all honor their commitments.”
Naomi Osaka.Julian Finney/Getty Image
Her next match is currently scheduled to take place on Wednesday against Romania’s Ana Bogdan.
When Osaka announced her decision earlier this week, she wrote that she’s “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 into our minds and I’m just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me,” she wrote, noting that the decision was “nothing personal” toward the tournament or any of the journalists.
“If the organizations think that they can just keep saying, ‘do press or you’re gonna be fined,’ and continue to ignore the mental health of the athletes that are the centerpiece of their cooperation then I just gotta laugh,” she concluded. “Anyways, I hope the considerable amount that I get fined for this will go towards a mental health charity.”
Alongside her statement, Osaka also shared a clip from an interview with a then-14-year-oldVenus Williamsfilmed after a reporter questioned her confidence in saying “I know I can beat” an upcoming opponent.
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Before Williams could defend herself in the clip, her father Richard Williams stepped in, telling the reporter, “You’re dealing with a little Black kid. Let her be a kid! She answered that with a lot of confidence, [so] leave that alone.”
If you or someone you know need mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
source: people.com
