Naomi Osaka says she won't be participating in any press conferences during the upcoming French Open in an effort to protect her own mental health.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Osaka described how the media had the power to negatively impact an athlete's confidence, stating that journalists who relentlessly pressed them for answers following a loss was like "kicking a person while they're down."
"I've often felt that people have no regard for athletes mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one," the 23-year-old wrote. "We're often sat there and asked questions that we've been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I'm not just going to subject myself to people that doubt me."
She added that her decision to refrain from attending media conferences was "nothing personal to the tournament," or to the press.
"However, if the organizations think that they can just keep saying, 'do press or you're gonna be fined', and continued to ignore the mental health of the athletes that are the centerpiece of their cooperation then I just gotta laugh."
Osaka finished her statement by saying that she hoped “the considerable amount that I get fined for this will go towards a mental health charity."
Osaka's announcement was met with a fair share of resistance from her followers.
"Sheer entitlement. So many other athletes in all sorts of sports face up to the media after they have lost, but you're too special ... ?" one wrote.
"If as a professional athlete you don’t want asked questions after you lose, don’t expect to be asked questions after you win," another added.
"Are you also enjoying the “I’ll just pay my way out of something I don’t want to do, that’s part of my job, when heaps of others couldn’t afford to do the same” energy? The “when I encounter a difficult part of my job, as everyone else does, I just won’t do it” energy?" a third wrote.
Others, however, offered Osaka support. Among them was Ellen Degeneres, who wrote, "Sending you so much love and support."
Sports psychologist Daria Abramowicz, who works with French Open winner Iga Swiatek and travels with the teenager's team, said she appreciated Osaka's concerns.
"I absolutely understand the decision in terms of when a player loses a match, and tennis is such a specific sport because at the end of the tournament only one person does not lose," she told Reuters on Thursday.
"It's tough emotionally to cope with it; it is one of the challenges that tennis brings. It's sometimes overwhelming.
The French tennis federation FFT, as well as most of Osaka's other sponsors, did not comment on the athlete's decision. Her main sponsor, told Reuters, "We respect the feelings and will of the athletes."
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