Osaka on French Open interviews: No comment

At the risk of sounding like someone who could fill Rush Limbaugh's radio seat, this is the big elephant in the room. It's not hard to see Osaka using her reasoning around mental health as a scapegoat for not doing media. As Cybersport alludes to, this minimizes actual mental health problems. But the tricky part about this is anyone making this accusation comes across as someone with a disregard for others' well-being at the sake of media coverage, which is awful optics.

 

Barty weighs in: Nadal and Barty at odds with Naomi Osaka over media stance

“We know what we sign up for as professional tennis players. I can’t really comment on what Naomi is feeling or her decisions she makes. At times press conferences are hard, of course, but it’s also not something that bothers me. I’ve never had problems answering questions or being completely honest with you guys. It’s not something that’s ever fazed me too much.”

 

The way Osaka worded her statement, noting seeing other athletes "breaking down" in a press room after competition, she's making it look like she's speaking for athletes at-large who would prefer the system changed. Or at the least drawing a conclusion the players she saw break down would prefer a different system. Then most of the prominent players who were asked about it yesterday basically said they see press as a necessary part of being a professional tennis player. Where does that leave Osaka now? She had to envision it could unfold like this. I wonder if she reached out to other players before her statement to try to organize a larger movement.

 

Thanks for that. I had never read it.

 

If she wins the tournament, every media outlet should present it as a brief and move on. If she doesn't want to deal with the media she shouldn't get any coverage.

 

Why cut off your nose to spite your face?

 

$15,000 fine and a threat of suspension from future Grand Slam events. Considering this and the lack of support that she's received from other tennis players, I wonder how long Naomi is willing to ride this out. Honestly, I'd respect her sticking to her guns more than her pivoting to "I'm just here so I don't get fined" appearances.

 

Or, it gives her a legit reason to sit out future French Opens - which means she won't have to play on clay, her worst surface.
Then she can blame the ITF (rather than herself) for never winning a complete Grand Slam.

 

Kick my ass for this comment if you want. I don’t care. The mental health thing is such a cop out and an insult to so many people in this country with REAL mental health issues, not histrionics you get demonstrative about for your online buddies.

 

Curious to see how ESPN plays this. My hunch is...she’ll talk to ESPN.

This’ll probably come down to how the American media looks at it, and whether Twitter gets fired up over the issue. If a few prominent voices write “Naomi Osaka doesn’t owe us anything” it’ll be beside the point - Osaka is doing this to the organization, not the media - and it’ll be the kind of “I’m actually glad Joe Biden doesn’t do much press because I like anonymous aides” pollyannish nonsense for which the American media is now known, but it’ll move the needle.

The US Open would likely cancel its own tournament before Osaka didn’t get to play in it.

 

Your disdain for American media is wearisome, but this isn't actually about the media. It's about this particular player.

 

I could not agree more ... but you know full well that most media outlets will have to use every morsel of Osaka anything in fear that the competition will have more.

I loathe what Osaka thinks she's going to pull, and if it's my call, she ends up in the briefs rail even if she wins the whole thing at Roland Garros. But will those above us stand with that decision?