Naomi Osaka shed tears in her first WTA press conference since she withdrew from Roland Garros.
The reigning Australian Open and US Open champion grew emotional when asked by Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Paul Daughertyhow she balances her media platform and responsibilities with sponsorship obligations.
Osaka answered the question, paused briefly, then looked up at the ceiling and began crying.
Here's the exchange prior that preceded Osaka's tears:
Paul Daugherty: The question was that you're not especially fond of dealing with the media, especially in this format. You have suggested there are better ways to do it, that we'd like to try to explore that. My question, I guess, was you also have outside interests beyond tennis that are served by having the platform that the media presents to you. My question is: How do you think you might be able to best balance the two?
Naomi Osaka: Um, I mean, for me, I feel like this is something that I can't -- I can't really speak for everybody. I can only speak for myself. But ever since I was younger, I have had a lot of media interest on me, and I think it's because of my background as well as, you know, how I play. Because in the first place, I'm a tennis player. That's why a lot of people are interested in me.
So I would say in that regard I'm quite different to a lot of people, and I can't really help that there are some things that I tweet or some things that I say that kind of create a lot of news articles or things like that, and I know it's because I have won a couple of Grand Slams and I have gotten to do a lot of press conferences that these things happen. But I would also say, like, I'm not really sure how to balance the two. Like I'm figuring it out at the same time as you are, I would say.
Osaka left the podium for a few moment go gather herself and returned to concluded Zoom presser answering questions from both American and Japanese press.
In a column she wrote for Time Magazine titled "It's O.K. Not to Be O.K.", Osaka addressed the controversy over her decision to skip Roland Garros pressers to protect her mental health and argues it’s time for traditional post-match press conferences to change.
“In my opinion (and I want to say that this is just my opinion and not that of every tennis player on tour), the press-conference format itself is out of date and in great need of a refresh.” Osaka wrote. “I believe that we can make it better, more interesting and more enjoyable for each side. Less subject vs. object; more peer to peer.”
After her tearful response in Cincinnati, Osaka's agent Stuart Duguid told journalist Ben Rothenberg “the tone of the question was all wrong and (the reporter’s) sole purpose was to intimidate.”
Near the end of the presser, Osaka said she feels good ahead of this pressure-packed stretch where she'll play Cincinnati, try to defend her US Open title then play Indian Wells in October.
"I would say right now I feel pretty good. I think that I'm really motivated," Osaka said. "There is only like three tournaments left in the year, and they happen to be, you know, in New York, in Indian Wells, I really love those places, and here, too. I like the roller coaster place that's right across the street.
"I'm just, you know, trying to have fun and trying to play well. I think I can build off of what happened in Tokyo a lot, yeah, just trying to learn a lot."