Written by Ananya Chakraborti, a grade 9 student.

Who Is Naomi Osaka?

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player (born on 16 October 1997.) She has been ranked no.1 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). She has four times won the Grand Slam singles champion. Osaka has been training herself since she was three in the United States. She is the highest-earning female athlete.

What is the French Open?

There are four annual Grand Slam tournaments namely the Australian Open, the French Open (Roland Garros), the Wimbledon Open, and the US Open. The French grand slam tournament is the only grand slam tournament that is held on a clay court. The French Open is the most physically demanding tournament in the world.

What had happened?

On 27 May Osaka took to her Twitter account and tweeted that she is not going to attend the press during the Roland Garros. According to what she said she did not attend the press after her first round on May 30. After this incident took place all the four Grand Slams released a joint statement saying that as Naomi did not attend the press a fine of $15,000 in the keeping with the Code of Conduct. The organization insisted that the fine was just a matter of fairness for the other players but, she was also warned that if she continues to steer clear of the media she might face disqualification or even suspension.

On 31 May Naomi Osaka dropped out of the tournament

She said that she took this decision because she thought this was the best for the tournament, all the players, and also for her as she has been suffering from long bouts of depression from the US Open 2018, she also stated that she has social anxiety as she feels very nervous before any press conference. She also said that this was also an act of self-care, she said about it because she found the rules about the press to be outdated. However, she said that she still has apologized privately to the tournament.

Naomi is receiving a lot of support from people and also from legend tennis players saying how much mental health is really important and should be paid attention to. Some are also saying that the press should make the players comfortable as these athletes are teenagers or in their late 20’s.

Want to write for us? We publish children’s writing Click Here