Naomi Takes A Stand

The world No 2’s refusal to attend media conferences because of her mental health has divided the tennis world

- Lindsay De Freitas

ON COURT she’s fierce, focused and confident, charging up to the net, sending double-handed backhands ripping into the opposite corner and notching up aces.

Not for nothing is Naomi Osaka the current world No 2, holder of four Grand Slam titles and 2020’s highest-earning female athlete on the planet. She made $37,4 million (R523,6m) last year, with $34m (R476m) of that coming from endorsements. Louis Vuitton, Tag Heuer, Mastercard, Nike, Airbnb – all have lined up to get her on board.

Yet the 23-year-old Japanese-Haitian star’s future is in jeopardy now. Not because she’s off her game – she’s a formidable force who could dominate the sport for years to come. But Naomi has taken a stand and is challenging an age-old tennis rule: the post-match media conference.

It’s no good for her, the wildly talented yet vulnerable player says. Facing a room full of world media is detrimental to her mental health and heightens her anxieties and she doesn’t think athletes should be forced to do it if they feel they can’t.

“The whole situation is kicking a person while they’re down and I don’t understand the reasoning behind it,” she says.

“I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes’ mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a media conference or partake in one.

“We’re sat there and asked questions that we’ve been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I’m just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me.”