By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday May 26, 2021
If you want to hear from Naomi Osaka during the French Open, you best have her digits.
The four-time Grand Slam champion has announced that she will not do any of her mandatory press conferences during Roland Garros, and happily incur the fines.
Osaka took to social media on Wednesday to announce the news and say that she hoped the proceeds for her fines will go a mental health charity.
“I’m writing this to say I’m not going to do any press during Roland-Garros,” Osaka wrote. “I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes’ mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one.”
Osaka 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’m just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me.”
It isn’t clear if this spring has been particularly frustrating for Osaka, or if the decision has been brewing for some time. She is currently under the spotlight as she seeks to get past the third round at Roland-Garros for the first time, on a surface that has been difficult for her to find her game.
She is 6-4 lifetime at Roland-Garros, and 43-7 combined at the Australian Open and US Open.
“Me not doing press is nothing personal to the tournament,” she wrote. “And a couple of journalists have interviewed me since I was young so I have a friendly relationship with most of them. However, if the organizations just think that they can keep saying “Do press or you’re gonna be fined,” and continue to ignore the mental health of the athletes that are the center piece of their cooperation, then I just gotta laugh.”
Roland Garros main draw play begins Sunday, with the men’s and women’s singles draws going live on Thursday.