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

[I'm With Stupid]

Not really what is said but hey its a headline eh?

Exactly. They're as much journalists as Graham Norton is when he interviews celebrities in exchange for a plug of their latest movie, or the technology journalist going to the latest Apple launch and just reprinting their press release with a few comments. The reason sports journalists are concerned about this is because they lose easy content. It's a business arrangement and they're worried they're going to lose money, they're not worried about a lack of independent scrutiny of sports stars and football clubs (one of the main arguments in an article I read bemoaning the rise of in-club media channels). And it's an old-fashioned business arrangement that more and more companies are realising that they don't really need to rely on any more. And that's why the media, from the far left to the far right, always rally around each other on this sort of thing.

 

[I'm With Stupid]

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

But think of the ratings if she has an anxiety attack live in the press conference.

 

[MillionMilesAway]

This seems to have been messed up behind the scenes - it's impossible to know where any error lies as we don't know what correspondence there was between the two sides.

It's obvious that media interviews are part of tournament regs, but the response from the French Open seems blunt and unsympathetic, especially in view of Osaka having cited mental health. I think withdrawing was the only move Osaka had at that point.

I doubt many of Osaka's sponsors will be doing anything but support her - anything else would be tonedeaf.

I'm not sure if it's the courtside interviews which are the problem (these are just invasive and should be binned), or the sitdown media room. The former is at least under control of the organisers and could be managed, but the worldwide media won't be.

 

[Fiftyyearsandcounting]

Didn't John Inverdale once make a crass remark when interviewing a British tennis player, by suggesting her success on the court made up for her lack of good looks in comparison to others female players?

 

[Blue tube]

Who even listens to these interviews? They never say anything out of the ordinary "it was tough, a lot of hard work put in, etc."

Always annoys me when a team win something and theyre all going mental on the pitch then they get collared by Geoff fuvkin Shreeves or some other twat to suck the life out of the situation and ask them when they are leaving and stupid things like that.

If you want to hear what these people really think you wont find it in these interviews

 

[Mr Kobayashi]

Didn't John Inverdale once make a crass remark when interviewing a British tennis player, by suggesting her success on the court made up for her lack of good looks in comparison to others female players?

It was a French tennis player, Marion Bartoli, in the prematch commentary before she won Wimbledon.

I had forgotten how bad it actually was, imagining a private conversation between Father and daughter about her physical appearance in relation to a tennis player that wasn't even known about at that age.

It’s the kind of waffleing nonsense that you get with long build up shows. It's just not necessary, to employ these bollocks talkers to the extent that they are.


"I just wonder if her dad, because he has obviously been the most influential person in her life, I just wonder if her dad did say to her when she was 12, 13, 14 maybe, 'Listen, you are never going to be, you know, a looker. You are never going to be somebody like a Sharapova, you're never going to be 5ft 11, you're never going to be somebody with long legs, so you have to compensate for that. You are going to have to be the most dogged, determined fighter that anyone has ever seen on the tennis court if you are going to make it', and she kind of is."

 

[Bigga]

If you best player is not playing , your brand perception dips , ask yourself how why the premier league keeps the rags relevant even though they are shite . Answer it all about market share

What?? "Market share" is not dependant on press write ups on sport. It's dependant on who relates to her, what product she's seen in and who is being influenced by that.

I doubt very much you will find young girls scouring the back pages to see how journos assess her game. They'll do that by watching the game and realising she has angst just like they do, but she battles them to try and reach the top.

Her story doesn't need sports press. The sports press need her.

 

[BlueTG]

Who even listens to these interviews? They never say anything out of the ordinary "it was tough, a lot of hard work put in, etc."

Always annoys me when a team win something and theyre all going mental on the pitch then they get collared by Geoff fuvkin Shreeves or some other twat to suck the life out of the situation and ask them when they are leaving and stupid things like that.

If you want to hear what these people really think you wont find it in these interviews

“And tell me, Foden, how do you feel about today’s win?”

They’re never going to say “actually, Geoff, pretty pissed off as I was doing everything I could to help the opposition get back into it to help me Ma’s aca” are they?

Of course they’re fucking chuffed with the win.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

The press are fucking vermin, and an individual sport like tennis has enough stress and mental pressure without the added heat magazine crap that passes for sports journalism. For all those upset about her contractual obligations the fact she's not in the comp anymore means you can stop sharpening your swords. Hope she's ok - and we can all go back to not caring about tennis.

 

[Bigga]

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.

Well, a rather lengthy response about a young girl who is, what, 23? She's introvert but determined enough to try and deal with her matters herself and acts like a young person would.

I think you had none of the answers you have given out at her age. Or maybe you were more worldly than most at her age? But, yes, she's 'precious', isn't she?

As she says herself her depression came on in the last few years, which kind of coincides with her rise to fame, no? Again, her headphone usage has also come on in that time.

And tennis is all she's ever done and all she's been good at (I think she would say this herself at 23).

You claim to have "thought about it", but it seems not.

I'll retract the "right idiot" part as, at least, you've put a bit of thought into a reply.