Naomi Osaka withdraws from French Open after expulsion menace over media boycott

Japan’s Naomi Osaka introduced on Monday she was withdrawing from the French Open after sticking to her choice to boycott post-match press conferences on the ongoing Grand Slam event.
Osaka, who’s a four-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked participant, had declared she wouldn’t communicate to the media throughout Roland Garros and was fined $15,000 by Grand Slam organisers for failing to attend her media duties following her first-round win.
The 23-year-old made the announcement on Twitter. “I think now the best thing for the tournament, other players and my wellbeing is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focussing on the tennis.”
“This isn’t a situation I ever imagined or intended when I posted a few days ago,” the 23-year-old Osaka stated on Twitter. “I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris. I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer.”
Osaka, one of many largest title’s in girls’s sport, went on to say she had suffered from melancholy since 2018. “The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the U.S. Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that,” she stated.
“Anyone that knows me knows I’m introverted, and anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I’m often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety.”

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— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) May 31, 2021
Osaka stated within the build-up to the event that she wouldn’t attend the compulsory press conferences, citing that the best way journalists quiz gamers adversely impacts her psychological well-being. There was no rapid response from event organisers.