Naomi Osaka refusing to speak to the media - Is she right or wrong?

[jimharri]

Modern “sport” in a nutshell. Sponsorship is all.

It's business, as much as it's sport these days. Cash is king. Certainly at the elite level she's competing at. Or City, Barca, Real, etc etc. Or the top NFL/NBA sides.

 

[Manchester1894]

I bet Pep would love to do this. The resolution is entry to tournaments is two forms, one with media/sponsorship obligations, one without. The two are financially different. Works for me.

 

[jimharri]

I bet Pep would love to do this. The resolution is entry to tournaments is two forms, one with media/sponsorship obligations, one without. The two are financially different. Works for me.

The players' "Union" would never agree to it.

 

[Centurions]

Well despite you not being able to see how you get to the top of any profession without being "mentally tough enough" to cope with press conferences, she did.

So it suggests that playing tennis and answering press conference questions are not particularly similar skills. Who'd have thought?

Ahh, this was going to be her first ever press conference then? Who would have thought it.

 

[abu13]

Honestly had never even heard of her until this morning, hope she gets the help she needs.

 

[kaz7]

As with all sportsmen and women they just want to play and it is unfair to make them do all the rest , she was there to compete not be grilled

 

[inchy14]

Not sure what the issue is tbh, she doesn’t want to be interviewed, they’ll fine her if not as it’s in her contract, she can easily afford them and doubt they’ll ban her for it so just don’t speak, pay up and then move on.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Come off it. As someone who has suffered clinical depression for many years, and been hospitalised at my worst, I know exactly what is is like. And yes, I jacked in my job and did summat I was still capable of.
The truth is she could not even play in these tournaments if she were really depressed. There's the rub.
When she announces that medical reasons mean she will not be playing, then fair dos. But if she is fit enough to play, she is fit enough to answer a few questions.
Alternatively, she could obtain a medical certificate saying that press work would exacerbate her condition and discuss that with the LTA.
There is no suggestion that she has done either. If she really has not done any of this, yes, she is being precious and a little irresponsible. You can't sign up to the rules and then unilaterally refuse to obey them.
Since I posted, she has withdrawn from the French but we don't know whether this is medical or to pre-empt a ban. We must, therefore withold judgement until her next tournament and see what she does.
Your last para attempts to put words in my mouth and is unworthy. I did not suggest that people with depression were being precious, rather I doubted her (self?) diagnosis as she intended to play.
This "right idiot" has thought about it rather more than you seem to have done.

Many people work through extreme depression, Robin Williams one of them, Matthew Perry and many stars.

Michael Phelps - the most decorated Olympian of all time, went into the 2012 London games with "no self-confidence, no self-love." As he told NBC , "I think the biggest thing was, I thought of myself as just a swimmer, and nobody else." Phelps's depression even caused him to push people who were important to him out of his life. Phelps recalled, "I was in the lowest place I've ever been. Honestly, I sort of, at one point, I just, I felt like I didn't want to see another day. I felt like it should be over."

for someone who has suffered clinical depression, your lack of empathy is strange on this one.

 

[BlueHammer85]

Not sure what the issue is tbh, she doesn’t want to be interviewed, they’ll fine her if not as it’s in her contract, she can easily afford them and doubt they’ll ban her for it so just don’t speak, pay up and then move on.

i think it's the principal, she is suffering from anxiety - that must heightened during TV interviews - she shouldn't be getting fined.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

Not the biggest tennis fan but I'll tune in every now and then and I've been watching her on and off for a few years.

It's been pretty clear from the beginning that she's incredibly anxious doing interviews and that sort of fuelled a media fascination because people found it endearing. Now she's in a position where she's not having to make a name for herself anymore and fair play to her for refusing.

It's not as if she's shutting up shop because the BBC did an expose on a crooked relative or anything. Now that would be pathetic.