Posted on 05/31/2021 12:54:57 PM PDT by Conserv
Naomi Osaka will not play in this year's French Open.
After winning her fourth Grand Slam title at this year's Australian Open, Osaka announced her withdrawal from the second Grand Slam of the season on Monday. In a statement shared on social media, Osaka explained that she would be skipping the clay-court tournament to protect her mental well-being.
"I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris," Osaka said in the statement.
"I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer. More importantly I would never trivialize mental health or use the term lightly. The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that."
Ahead of the French Open, Osaka announced her pledge to skip post-match press conferences. After her first-round match win against Patricia Maria Tig on Sunday, Osaka stood by her word and was handed a fine for her actions.
Osaka, the world's No. 2 ranked women's singles player, was fined $15,000 for not participating in a mandatory post-match press conference and was also given a warning that if she continues to not speak with the media she could risk even stronger penalties. She was risking default from the French Open and the tournament organizers at Roland Garros said there could be "more substantial fines and future Grand Slam suspensions."
Osaka has not made it past the third round at the French Open in her three career appearances. Last year, she was forced to withdraw because of a nagging hamstring injury. In 2019, Osaka lost to Karolina Pliskova and in 2018, she lost to Madison Keys. Both matches were straight-set losses.
You mean because she is a hāfu?
The media in general sucks, and that includes the sports media, but Osaka is not worthy of sympathy. She’s a BLM pushing leftist, who used the platform eagerly offered up to her by the leftist media organization ESPN to spout her BLM garbage at the US Open last year. And of course she was widely praised and congratulated by the media for using her sports platform to push the leftist ideas that Osaka and the media have in common.
Osaka was a likable figure when she was across the court from Serena when Serena has her meltdown of bad sportsmanship and entitlement a few years ago at the US Open. She’s tossed any good will from having to endure that spectacle out the window by helping to infect tennis with politics.
She’s a BLM pushing leftist, >>
i did not know that. If so, i agree with you.
Oh yeah. I checked to make sure I was remembering correctly. Just search and you’ll see picture and videos of her wearing “Black Lives Matter” masks at the US Open last year.
To be fair, pretty much every pro tennis player of note, especially the men, virtue signaled with BLM garbage last year. BLM shirts were being worn by numerous players. Idiot Greek Tsitsipas even reached out to Osaka to be educated on the matter. Seriously, to be educated by a 22 year old who isn’t even an an African American. The three GOATs - Federer, Nadal and Djokovic- all participated in that blackout in social media for BLM. I expected nothing less from Federer and Nadal being beloved corporate spokesmen and with a soft and easy upbringing, but I thought Djokovic might be more resistant to that nonsense growing up in a war torn area.
But that’s that. No sport was really immune last year. Even the PGA infected their coverage with BLM garbage.
Look and any major professional sport and compare the revenue generated from TV to the revenue generated from ticket sales. The difference is staggering. Without extensive media coverage, these tennis players would be competing at the French Open for a $100,000 purse and would be lucky to get another $25,000 in endorsement contracts.
Women’s tennis will benefit from her full departure.
LOL, You'd have to be blind to not root for the heterosexual :)
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