French Open 2021: Naomi Osaka withdraws after media boycott row; reveals battle with depression since 2018
Firstpost23-year-old Naomi Osaka was fined $15,000 on Sunday and threatened with disqualification by French Open organisers after she refused to carry out a mandatory news conference following her first round win. Paris: Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open on Monday following the bitter fall-out from her decision to boycott all media activity, revealing she has “suffered long bouts of depression” and will now “take some time away from the court”. “I am going to take some time away from the court now.” Osaka said she has apologised to organisers over the affair which has dominated the early stages of the French Open ever since she warned last week that she would not carry out any media activity. “We look forward to having Naomi in our tournament next year.” Highest earning female athlete Osaka is the world’s highest earning female athlete, making $37.4 million in 2020. “Naomi has the opportunity to use her status to address problems and to initiate things,” Osaka’s Belgian coach Wim Fissette told German magazine Der Spiegel.