Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka says she won’t be taking part in post-match press conferences at the French Open to preserve her mental health. “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,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’ve watched many clips of athletes breaking down after a loss in the press room and I know you have as well. I believe that whole situation is kicking a person while their [sic] down and I don’t understand the reasoning behind it.”
Osaka wrote that she knows she could face a penalty for refusing to play ball with the media. “If the organizations think that they can just keep saying, ‘do press or you’re gonna be fined,’ and continue to ignore the mental health of the athletes that are the centerpiece of their cooperation then I just gotta laugh,” she said, adding that she hopes any money she has to pay will go to a mental health charity. In the comments of the post, Venus Williams backed up Osaka, writing, “Girl, do you. Your life is yours to live!”
