“Not going to subject myself to people that doubt me” Naomi Osaka reveals BIG NEWS ahead of French Open 2021
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Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka is a four time Grand Slam champion and a lot of the credit for that must go to her mental fortitude. Osaka had to come over from Japan and get adjusted to life in the USA at a very young age, she also had to for a very long time deal with the fact that her maternal grandparents would not talk to the family because of the ethnicity of her dad. These kinds of things mature you as a kid and help you get tougher in the mind.
In the past we have seen Osaka be very vocal about the Black Lives Matter movement, she also did her part when she wore ‘masks with the name of victims on them’ at the US Open last year. Osaka was also vocal about Asians being treated with hate post the COVID break out. Osaka has never shied away from taking a stand. Recently she spoke out against the compulsion that players are put through to attend press conferences, even while the mental health aspect of the player is completely ignored. Read on!
Naomi Osaka will not be doing any press conferences during the French Open
Naomi Osaka announced via twitter that she will not be doing any press conferences at this year’s French open. The reigning Australian Open champion, posted an open letter on the social media site to give her reasons for it too. Naomi Osaka said “I have often felt that people have no regard for athletes’ mental health and this rings true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one,”
She continued, “We’re often sat there and asked questions that we’ve been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I am not going to subject myself to people who doubt me.”
Naomi Osaka stressed, “I believe the whole situation is kicking a person while they are down and I don’t understand the reasoning behind it.”
Naomi Osaka gives befitting reply to a trool
Once Osaka had put out the tweet, expectedly a trool tried to tell Osaka that attending press conferences was part of her job. He said ” So you decided to play professional tennis knowing exactly what it was and your responsibilities to the sport. Now your don’t want to do your job? Yes, the pressers are part of your job, Infact, you probably wouldn’t have as many fans as you do if you’ve never done them.”
This tweet was clearly sexist, abusive, and meant to provoke. And Osaka did not take it lying down. She retorted back telling the trool, “Sir I’m paying the fine. How are you gonna tell me how to do my job? You don’t see me come and tell you how incorrect your form is while you’re sitting on the couch.” Since then though both the tweet by the trool and the reply by Osaka have been deleted.
The fine for not doing the press conference, after a game, is around $20,000. Naomi Osaka, if she reaches the Finals, will have to pay a fine of around $ 140,000 for not doing the press conferences. But thankfully for Naomi Osaka she made more than $55 million in the past year. So she can actually pay the fine. Osaka had earlier announced that she will donate the fine amount to mental health charities.
Also Read: “Keep getting up,” Naomi Osaka reveals the advice she received from Djokovic
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Auri Ghosh
(652 Articles Published)