Osaka asks for 'privacy and empathy' when she returns

WTA
Thursday, 08 July 2021 at 17:26
Naomi Osaka Australian open 2021 2

Naomi Osaka will return to tennis at the Tokyo Olympic Games and ahead of the event, the tennis superstar penned an essay for Time magazine.

Naomi Osaka has not played since pulling out of the Roland Garros due to mental health issues. The Japanese player created a lot of controversy declining to take part in press conferences in order to preserve her mental health. In a new essay penned for Time Magazine she wrote:

"The world is as divided now as I can remember in my short 23 years. Issues that are so obvious to me at face value, like wearing a mask in a pandemic or kneeling to show support for anti-racism, are ferociously contested. I mean, wow! So, when I said I needed to miss French Open press conferences to take care of myself mentally, I should have been prepared for what unfolded."

Osaka further continued saying:

"I felt under a great amount of pressure to disclose my symptoms - frankly because the press and the tournament did not believe me. I also do not want to have to engage in a scrutiny of my personal medical history ever again. So I ask the press for some level of privacy and empathy next time we meet I do hope that people can relate and understand it's OK to not be OK; and it's OK to talk about it."

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