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FILE PHOTO: Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – Tennis – Women’s Singles – Round 3 – Ariake Tennis Park – Tokyo, Japan – July 27, 2021. Naomi Osaka of Japan reacts during her third round match against Marketa Vondrousova of Czech Republic REUTERS / Mike Segar
August 17, 2021
(Reuters) -Naomi Osaka briefly left a press conference in Cincinnati on Monday after appearing to be upset by a series of questions about her relationship with the media, leading her agent to describe a reporter as a “bully.”
Osaka withdrew from Roland Garros earlier this year after being punished for refusing to give press conferences, saying her mental health had been affected by certain lines of questioning.
On Monday, a reporter for a Cincinnati newspaper asked the 23-year-old, “You’re not crazy to deal with us, especially in this format. Yet you have a lot of outside interests that are served by a media platform. How do you reconcile the two? “
Osaka twice asked the reporter to clarify his question and declined an offer from the moderator to “move on to the next question” before giving a full answer.
“Since I was younger I’ve had a lot of media interest in me, and I think it’s also because of my background,” said Osaka, who is of Japanese-Haitian descent but has grown up. mainly in the United States.
“I can’t really help but say that there are things that I tweet or things that I say that create a lot of news articles or things like that… but I would also say that I am not really sure how to balance the two. As if I discovered it at the same time as you, I would say.
When another reporter began asking him questions about his preparations for the hard-court summer season and his pledge to donate his award from this week’s Western and Southern Open to relief efforts in the event of an earthquake in Haiti, Osaka seemed to wipe away tears.
The moderator called for a break in the proceedings and Osaka left the room for a few minutes but returned to end the press conference.
Osaka’s withdrawal from Roland Garros not only led her to reveal that she struggled with depression for a number of years, but also prompted her to retire from Roland Garros and of Wimbledon for his mental well-being.
After losing early at the Tokyo Games, where she had the honor of lighting the Olympic flame in the opening ceremony, she said she struggled to cope with the enormous pressure and expectations. placed on it.
Osaka agent Stuart Duguid on Monday condemned the journalist’s line of questioning in a statement provided to Reuters.
“The Bully of the Cincinnati Enquirer is the epitome of why player / media relations are so strained right now,” said Duguid.
“Everyone on this Zoom will agree that his tone was all wrong and that his only purpose was to intimidate. Really appalling behavior.
“And this insinuation that Naomi owes her success off the field to the media is a myth – don’t be so kind to yourself.”
The reporter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Osaka used her platform to draw attention to mental health issues and she said at the press conference that she felt supported by her fellow athletes.
“The biggest eye-opener was going to the Olympics and seeing other athletes come to me and tell me that they were really happy that I did what I did,” she said. added.
“I’m proud of what I did and I think it was something that needed to be done.”
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles, Additional reporting by Amy Tennery, editing by Pritha Sarkar / Peter Rutherford)
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