Story at a glance
- PGA Tour legend Jack Nicklaus came out in support of tennis star Naomi Osaka, who recently withdrew from the French Open for mental health reasons, saying the media should allow her “to do what she needs to do without running her through the ringer.”
- “If she has a problem, if she really has one, you don’t know that, I don’t know that, only she knows that and her doctor probably knows it,” Nicklaus told reporters.
- Osaka withdrew from the French Open a day after she was fined $15,000 for declining to speak to the media following her first-round victory.
PGA Tour legend Jack Nicklaus came out in support of tennis star Naomi Osaka, who recently withdrew from the French Open for mental health reasons, saying the media should allow her “to do what she needs to do without running her through the ringer.”
Speaking ahead of the Memorial Tournament, the 18-time major tournament champion told reporters at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, that he feels sympathy for Osaka and that it is not up to the media to determine her mental health status, USA Today reported.
“If she has a problem, if she really has one, you don’t know that, I don’t know that, only she knows that and her doctor probably knows it. … so I can’t fault her. I feel badly for her and I hope that she [gets] whatever she needs,” Nicklaus said, according to the outlet.
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Osaka withdrew from the French Open a day after she was fined $15,000 for declining to speak to the media following her first round victory.
“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 posted 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 added.
Nicklaus told reporters Tuesday that they have a job to do and would generally be treated fairly if they offer athletes the same fairness in return.
“I think you have a few people in the media today who are trying to make a name and they want to get sensational,” Nicklaus said, adding that the issue was prevalent while he was on the tour.
“And I don’t understand some of the young people today and thinking they’re not going to get treated fairly. I mean, you always get treated fairly if you treat somebody else fairly,” Nicklaus concluded.
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