Story at a glance
- Tennis star Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open on Sunday to focus on her mental health.
- Osaka had been fined prior to withdrawing for failing to interact with the media after winning her first match at the open.
- Her sister, Mari Osaka, had written on Reddit previously that Naomi’s media boycott was due to a lack of confidence in how she performs on clay surfaces.
Naomi Osaka’s sister Mari has apologized for creating a Reddit post that implied the tennis star’s media boycott at the French Open was due to a lack of confidence in how she performs on clay surfaces.
In the since-deleted Reddit post, prior to Naomi Osaka withdrawing from the open on Sunday to focus on her mental health, her sister Mari Osaka wrote on Reddit:
“Naomi mentioned to me before the tournament that a family member had come up to her and remarked that she’s bad at clay. At every press conference she’s told [she] has a bad record on clay. When she lost in Rome [round one] she was not ok mentally. Her confidence was completely shattered and I think that everyone’s remarks and opinions have gotten to her head and she herself believed that she was bad on clay.
“This isn’t true and she knows that in order to do well and have a shot at winning Roland Garros she will have to believe that she can. That’s the first step any athlete needs to do, believe in themselves. So her solution was to block everything out. No talking to people who is [sic] going to put doubt in her mind. She’s protecting her mind hence why it’s called mental health. So many people are picky on this term thinking you need to have depression or have some sort of disorder to be able to use the term mental health.”
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The 23-year-old Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open a day after being fined $15,000 for not talking to the media after she won her first match.
“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 on Twitter.
“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,” she wrote.
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Following her sister’s withdrawal, Mari Osaka took to Reddit in a since-deleted post to clarify her comments and apologize to her sister.
“Ok so I f—ed up,” she wrote. “My words are coming across so horribly to a lot of people who think taking care of mental health is strategic. I didn’t emphasize the fact that Naomi is dealing with a tone of s— and honestly fighting for the care of mental health is my post so now a lot of people are taking it as ‘She doesn’t want to hear critisim. [sic]’ I’m sorry Namoi [sic] I probably made the situation worse.”
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