Naomi Osaka has grown into one of tennis’ brightest stars, but the current No. 2 player in the world in the WTA rankings will not be competing in the year’s second major title.
After a weekend of discussion about her earlier announcement that she would not be making any press availability during the championships, Osaka announced her withdrawal from the French Open on Monday after winning her opening match in straight sets. Osaka had stated that she did not want to participate in press conferences, particularly post-match, during the tournament because she wanted to protect her mental health, and she went into greater detail about the anxiety she experiences in those situations in her announcement that she would be withdrawing.
It’s an unfortunate conclusion to a debate that should never have gotten so huge. Osaka accepts responsibility for announcing her strategy to avoid negative headlines in the incorrect way, and says she’s had private discussions with tournament officials about it and intends to have more after this year’s event. It’s a shame that she felt the only way to end it was to withdraw completely, not only for Osaka, who was hoping to make a deep run in one of the majors she has yet to reach the quarterfinals in, but also for fans who won’t be able to watch one of tennis’ great talents perform because her request not to do press became such a story that she felt she couldn’t perform without being a distraction.
There are absolutely conversations to be had, as she notes at the end of her statement, on how to make the press-player relationship work better for all parties, and hopefully this can be a starting point for that even if it begins with an unfortunate situation that seemed avoidable had her initial statement been handled and taken differently.
