Naomi Osaka withdraws from French Open, cites mental health

The media and their dumb questions caused her to withdraw from the French Open. That's a lot of power.

 

I don't know about the mental advances. Seems like we're going nowhere in that field.

 

You may be correct.

But I think a huge problem is people being afraid to seek out help or feeling shamed by mental issues where that stigma doesn't exist with physical health issues.

Hopefully if we can stop the shaming and attaching the stigma to mental health issues the more we can start exploring future advances.

I say this even though I think there are people who cling to the awakening of mental health issues and try and exploit them for their own reward in attention gained. Maybe that too is a mental health issue that I pray to God could be halted with some advance or other.

Those cases do a harm. But I am not really qualified to do any kind of diagnosis.

 

That's a perverse view of power

 

I've linked Sean Carroll's podcast before but I tend to really enjoy most of the guests he has weekly. Especially the ones I might find myself disagreeing with. At least I better understand their perspective ya know? Like truly good faith arguments I would say most of the time without the shitposting of D&D.





These two particular podcasts immediately came to mind when reading your post. I think there are some truly phenomenal researchers in behavioral health that are at the least laying the groundwork for future pioneers to make advancements in this field of study.

 

They should NOT have worked out something out with her.
Why should they have?

The number 200 in the world who enters the main draw through 2 rounds of qualifiers should be entitled to the same treatment and obligations by the organisers as the no.1 player.
That is fair.

Compared to how Osaka has it, the ones who suffer more are the lower unseeded players.

I remember years ago I read a story about Davydenko who after a long struggle made it to no.4 in the ATP.

He used to sleep in the car with his brother driving from small tournament to small tournament living almost destitute. Feeling happy to receive a small sponsoship for free apparell and equipment.

That is the life of most tennis players in the world.
Travelling all the time , have no time to see their children and families, living foot to mouth and any time be at risk to be left without any paycheck if they get injured or sick.

It is a hard life. Not shiny and glamour Nike,KIA and Rolex sponsorships with millions of dollars.

And then you have WADA. Unlike the NBA that doesn't care about steroids and allows weed, WADA can come at any time of the day any day of the week, any place they stay, and test any tennis player intruding on their lives and privacy. Be it at 6am in the morning or at 11 in the night.

So sorry but I don't particularly care about the duress Osaka is under.

This is the deal of being a tennis player and if she can't handle it she is free to quit.

But not giving privileges to the already privileged who live with a golden spoon.

 

I've just skimmed some more of this thread but will point out if we consider mental illness / injury on par with physical injury exceptions aren't given if you can't perform physically.

Let's say Osaka has damaged rotator cuff and can't serve. There isn't going to be an exception saying that her games won't be played with serves.

While being available to the press isn't on court play it is a requirement to be part of the tournament and if you physically can't perform part of the tournament the right thing to do is withdraw.

 

Why shouldn't they have tried to work something out with her that would apply to all? Mainly due to Serena's pregnancy return, they changed the way rankings are determined when a woman has a baby. They worked with the players in that regard mainly because the most prominent player in the WTA was ranked lower and thus seeded lower due to being out for a while.

 

To me it is part of the job, and a very important one. She should take time off if she needs it.

The big problem is, all it does is add to the media storm for when she does have future media appearances.

 

I think even the worst case for Osaka is still fine. Even if she has zero mental health issues and just doesn't want to do the media. She was fine in trying to leverage her talent/worth to the tournament to get special treatment. The tournament is also fine in not budging. If this were a handful of the best competitors they would likely budge.

 

Considering she is doing exactly what you suggest (and what I assume many people would suggest), she seems to be getting an inordinate amount of flack (from regular people, not her fellow pros).

Also, I don't understand what the problem is if the WTA and other sports try to work with players to address issues like this. The first response by the grand slam organizations seemed to be too heavy handed.

 

Questions
1 Do you think fans will now show up because NFL Players don't show up for the interviews doing the week
2. Do you think the fans will not show up to the French Open because, Naomi, Serena or any other player doesn't show up for these interviews...

A lot of these interviews are to please the Owners for Marketing and other pure non-sense....

A lot of questions the media ask is just pure ridiculousness and personal... Then on top of that they will turn the answer around to try and make themselves stand out....

These individuals get paid a lot of money to play the game, not for interviews...

T_Man

 

She didn't ask for privileges. She was willing to pay the fines. They went beyond to threaten her and she quit. She didn't cry injustice.

You can be satisfied with that, but you know what - everyone suffers here by her absence. The sport suffers.

 

There is something not natural about speaking to the media. That is why public speaking ranks very high for most people. I'm certain it's even worse for an introvert like Naomi.

 

It's unfortunate she gets paid so little for such a daunting task.

 

They need to come to some sort of agreement. Having said that, she isn't unique in having serious issues addressing the media. For example, it is extremely difficult for James Harden. He has had issues with it and has met and spoken to professionals about it. Zack Greinke with the Astros also has had to fight hard to even sit down for a media session. I don't know how BAD her issues are in comparison and it is all speculation. She is also very young (relatively speaking) and it is harder to deal with mental health concerns at such an early age.

 

Yes, this really upsets me.

Money does not suddenly cure mental health issues.

I have at some points in my career been very successful financially and it did not suddenly cure depression, anxiety or past trauma.

Money gives you the opportunity to seek help, but it doesn't cure mental health issues. Also, there are limitations to medication and therapy when it comes to mental health and trauma.

 

Both teams played hard

 

Exactly

Jeff Bezos is the richest man in the world.
Can't avoid hair loss.

 

So you think doing interviews is as important as people seeing a athlete perform in said events?

Really?

Do you think ant tournament believes having her do interviews is as important than having her play in the Tournament?

If these press conferences where done away with tomorow 80% of Tennis fans would not care.