Osaka asks for 'privacy and empathy' when she returns

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."