"I had conversation with Osaka's team" - says Wimbledon tournament director

The participation of Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon is in doubt and Wimbledon tournament director Jamie Baker confirmed they held talks with her team.

Wimbledon tournament director Jamie Baker confirmed to news outlets in the UK that he held talks with Osaka's team. The Japanese played pulled out of the French Open due to the press conferences fiasco and later pulled out of the bett1 Open in Berlin as well.

That cast major doubt over her Wimbledon participation and Baker explained what the talks have been about. He said:

flash “I had the conversation with her team. It is absolutely clear that we are here, we are completely open for any discussions when they want to have that."

Read also

2021 Wimbledon WTA Entry List with Ashleigh Barty, Serena Williams and Aryna Sabalenka (Last Update: 27-06)

Baker would not go into specifics and when he was asked about possible fines if Osaka declined to hold post-match press conferences:

"What I have said, and I will repeat what I have said, we are completely open to a discussion. On this topic, we know that this can be…people can still see this in a number of different ways and the opportunities that are there for players, both on and off the court at these big tournaments, are really, really great."

Baker further added:

"I think that is really where we are now. The door is completely open. And we treat every single player really with a tremendous amount of care. That is one of the main reasons for me in my role as tournament director, we have been building those relationships really since I started in."