Wow. Naomi Osaki is refusing to do a single press conference at French Open. Says it impacts her "mental health" too much

who cares!! Does anyone really pay attention to post race interviews? You either win or lose. Raise your hand if you honestly stick around or even tune into a post race/match/game interview? If you do find something better to do and just watch the effin event!!! Yeeeesh

Then there should be no press conferences for any sports. Indeed, there should be no media attention of any sporting event. It all contributes to the mental unwellness of these extraordinarily well-paid individuals. If course, if some do suffer from mental health issues you might think the greater stress is on court and playing the game, not talking about it afterwards. I would be quite happy for them to retreat from all media attention - if they are quite happy to return to the good old days of amateur sport, when all you got from the game was fun and not an enormous pay-check.

Harold #1 wrote:

I'd rather see the tennis anyway and skip any of the interviews.

Wow, it's your lucky day because I'm going to let you in on a little secret: you don't have to watch post-match interviews! You can even skip the on-court ones immediately after the match. Tennis is great in that way, no cutaways, no human interest stories, just a hard fought match. And after "game, set, match" you can immediately change the channel.

Yawn^2 wrote:

Claiming social anxiety comes across as attention seeking (the same theming she claims she wants to avoid).

Dumbest comment I've read in awhile.

Armstronglivs wrote:

Then there should be no press conferences for any sports. Indeed, there should be no media attention of any sporting event. It all contributes to the mental unwellness of these extraordinarily well-paid individuals. If course, if some do suffer from mental health issues you might think the greater stress is on court and playing the game, not talking about it afterwards. I would be quite happy for them to retreat from all media attention - if they are quite happy to return to the good old days of amateur sport, when all you got from the game was fun and not an enormous pay-check.

This is exactly it. These athletes want everything and don’t want to give anything.

If answering a few standard questions is hard for you, then you need a new profession.

“Why do you struggle on clay?” “Well it’s just a surface I have yet to master but I work on it every chance I get and I’ll see results from that practice one day.”

Was that so hard? I just answered a question she might get asked and no one paid me millions.

I personally hate talking on the phone, but I am not about to tell my boss I’m not taking phone calls anymore.

this is what I have wrote:

Sucks to see that tons of LRCers will go after a young athlete who has said that she struggled with depression/anxiety before ... Saying that she makes it up, she's dramatic, she should drop her contract , grow up etc... Almost like you guys enjoy seeing her fail :/ disappointing but not really surprising lol

Life can be hard for everyone, no matter their wealth/fame etc... and you can't really understand someone's mental health struggles unless you go through it (and even then, there are different degrees). It would be better if the first reaction was to have empathy instead of calling her a drama queen and going on about the contract ..

How am I supposed to empathize with a millionaire who doesn’t want to talk to a reporter because of a weak anxiety excuse? Kinda hard to walk in their shoes no?

Glad you worked it out with your boss, but had your company not been accommodating, I would not criticize them for firing you if you did not fulfill your job obligations, but would perhaps criticize them for not being flexible.

You perpetuate the stigma by calling this a weak excuse. Depression and anxiety can be debilitating. Naomi is a strong individual in every sense of the word and a phenom. Change will occur.

Armstronglivs wrote:

Then there should be no press conferences for any sports. Indeed, there should be no media attention of any sporting event. It all contributes to the mental unwellness of these extraordinarily well-paid individuals. If course, if some do suffer from mental health issues you might think the greater stress is on court and playing the game, not talking about it afterwards. I would be quite happy for them to retreat from all media attention - if they are quite happy to return to the good old days of amateur sport, when all you got from the game was fun and not an enormous pay-check.

What good is accomplished by subjecting an athlete with a real mental health issue to a press conference? That borders on the sadistic. Why not also have a rule that athletes cannot retire from matches due to injury. Just force them to aggravate their injuries until they have to be carried off in a stretcher. They are making big dollars and should have to play through the pain no matter what.

If you ever watched a tennis press conference, you will know that all the press does for a hour is try to pick apart the players. It is the same stupid questions every time. "You had __ unforced errors today. Do you think you can defeat your next opponent with that many unforced errors?" If you are suffering from anxiety and depression, that is about the worst thing anyone can do to you.

The "high paid athlete" talk is just management-speak for athletes being chattel for the big money interests that back sport. It is the line that is always trotted out when athletes complain about seasons being too long or other issues that jeopardize their health and well being.

The debate opens up a broader issue, of just how mentally strong are elite athletes. I see a lot of athletes with tremendous physical skills but relatively few show what I would see as mental toughness. I am not suggesting they suffer from an illness but that their mental skills are often not comparable to their physical talents. Many wilt under the pressure of competition. Osaka's difficulties may be indicative of the struggle many top sports competitors have generally with the mental side of their occupation. Her difficulties have just manifested themselves in a particularly specific way.

How can you be this naive? If the poster you replied to was fired how would that have affected her mental health? If she knew she was going to be fired she wouldn't have mentioned it to her boss as not many of us can afford not to work. You sound like you just want people to suffer in silence.

the beagle wrote:

Yawn^2 wrote:

Claiming social anxiety comes across as attention seeking (the same theming she claims she wants to avoid).

Dumbest comment I've read in awhile.

Don’t you know that “social anxiety” is fake news? Something something bootstraps something snowflakes.

Most press conferences are pretty tame. The media don't grill sports stars like politicians. It is largely a variety of pr - which is what the tournament organizers and sports bodies like to see. Playing a tennis match is mentally far more stressful than talking to the media (having done both). If an athlete can't cope with their media obligations I would have expected to see their meltdown in competition, well before any press conference.

the beagle wrote:

Yawn^2 wrote:

Claiming social anxiety comes across as attention seeking (the same theming she claims she wants to avoid).

Dumbest comment I've read in awhile.

Definitely "ignant" but there are daily winners from many who have posted in this thread.

Beat the Stigma wrote:

You perpetuate the stigma by calling this a weak excuse. Depression and anxiety can be debilitating. Naomi is a strong individual in every sense of the word and a phenom. Change will occur.

You mean two of the most over diagnosed mental health issues can be debilitating. Everyone one and their mother has anxiety or adhd or ocd or depression these days.

She is certainly not strong if she cannot handle a press conference.

Tatar wrote:

Yawn^2 wrote:

How am I supposed to empathize with a millionaire who doesn’t want to talk to a reporter because of a weak anxiety excuse? Kinda hard to walk in their shoes no?

Glad you worked it out with your boss, but had your company not been accommodating, I would not criticize them for firing you if you did not fulfill your job obligations, but would perhaps criticize them for not being flexible.

How can you be this naive? If the poster you replied to was fired how would that have affected her mental health? If she knew she was going to be fired she wouldn't have mentioned it to her boss as not many of us can afford not to work. You sound like you just want people to suffer in silence.

To a certain extent yes, suffer in silence. Osaka chose to play tennis and she chose to sign a contract with the tournament stating she will do interviews. No one forced this on her. No one forced her to go on about her anxiety (anxiety that seems to come and go mind you). This past week is all the culmination of her choices.

In regards to the poster, is it not the right of the company to fire someone if they do not perform on the job? The company is not responsible for the mental health of those they fire.

So if I had a fear of heights, it wouldn’t be attention seeking to shout it from the top of a building?

Those who truly have anxiety and depression don’t feel the need to blab about it to the media they are claiming cause the depression.

Memorize. Wash, rinse, and repeat:

https://youtu.be/KeVca9MwDX8

https://youtu.be/EZprAlFcQLA

The video above was Osaka's first Grand Slam win and she had to tearfully apologize to the crowd for beating Serena.

The crowd was boing because Serena was having issues with the chair umpire who was penalizing Serena for relatively small things.

I think Osaka has been emotional wreck for years and this was her first time on the big stage.