Naomi Osaka to skip French Open press for ‘mental health’ reasons
Tokyo, May 27 (EFE).- Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka, currently ranked no. 2 in the world, announced on Thursday that she will not take part in any press conferences at the upcoming French Open for “mental health” reasons.
The 23-year-old athlete said that press conferences can generate “doubts” in the minds of athletes and that she was not going to subject herself to people who doubted her.
“I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes mental health,” Osaka said in a post on Twitter.
“I’ve watched many clips of athletes breaking down after a loss in the press room and I know you have as well.
“I believe that whole situation is kicking a person while they’re down and I don’t understand the reasoning behind it,” she said.
Osaka explained that her decision not to take questions from the media during Roland-Garros was “nothing personal.”
She also criticized tournament organizers for continuing to “ignore the mental health of the athletes” and hoped that the “considerable amount” she was likely to get fined for not doing any press would go towards a mental health charity.
The French Open is scheduled to kick off on Sunday in Paris with a limited number of spectators.
Osaka, who is the reigning Australian Open and US Open champion, will find out her firstround opponent after the draw on Thursday. EFE
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