She calls for “To refocus on tennis” but, not to mention, Naomi Osaka once again sidelined the clay spirits. The day after the joint press release of the four Grand Slam tournaments threatening the player with “New sanctions, including exclusion from the tournament” after his refusal to “To comply with its contractual media obligations”, the Japanese took Roland-Garros from behind on Monday, May 31.
Shortly before 8 p.m., the young athlete (23) published a long message on social networks, announcing to withdraw from the Paris tournament and “A certain time of the courts”. After her victory in the first round on Sunday, she was due to play her second round on Wednesday.
“The best thing for Roland-Garros, the other players and my well-being, is that I forfeit, so that everyone can refocus on tennis”, writes world number 2. Her second message on social networks in less than a week, in a calmer tone than the first, which, though aimed at protecting her preventively, had triggered lightning.
Osaka has challenged racial prejudice
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“I have often felt that people have no respect for the mental health of athletes and it resonates every time I watch or take part in a press conference., had expressed Naomi Osaka, Wednesday. If tournament organizers think they can say ‘go to a press conference or you will be fined’ for continuing to ignore athlete sanity, the soul of their industry, then better laugh at it. “ Despite a mask against the Covid-19 sporting a facetious smile as he entered the Philippe-Chatrier court during his first round, not many laughed at his decision to dodge the press conferences after. -match, obligatory meeting of the circuits WTA (female) and ATP (male).
Because Naomi Osaka is not just one of the players on the tour. Highest-paid athlete on the planet, the four-time winner of Grand Slam tournaments (US Open 2018 and 2020, Australian Open 2019 and 2021) has been the star that women’s tennis has been looking for since Serena Williams slowly took the slope descending. Even if it means undergoing – and putting oneself – insane pressure since her first good results, before the age of 20. And sometimes far from the tennis courts.
Métis of Haitian origin through his father, Osaka has shaken up racial prejudices in Japan, where the notion of ethnic homogeneity remains significant. And since her commitment to minority rights following the Black Lives Matter movement, she has been the focus of attention, even by the standards of the professional tennis world.
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