Tennis Prose




May/21

30

Grand Slams Threaten Osaka

The Grand Slams have joined forces to retaliate against Naomi Osaka. 

The French Open, Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open issued a joint statement today announcing Osaka will be fined $15,000 for skipping media obligations after her first round win today vs Patricia Maria Tig. Additionally, the Grand Slams also say Osaka will not only face steeper fines, she may also be defaulted from the tournament and be hit with possible future Slam suspensions if she continues her media blackout.

The four major tournaments also claim that they reached out to Osaka to adress her mental health issues and claim she’s never responded, indicating perhaps Osaka may be bluffing the whole episode to escape talking with the media at press conferences and TV interviews.

 

Following [Osaka’s] announcement, the Roland-Garros teams asked her to reconsider her position and tried unsuccessfully to speak with her to check on her well-being, understand the specifics of her issue and what might be done to address it on site.

Following the lack of engagement by Naomi Osaka, the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open jointly wrote to her to check on her well-being and offer support, underline their commitment to all athletes’ well-being and suggest dialog on the issues. She was also reminded of her obligations, the consequences of not meeting them and that rules should equally apply to all players.

We have advised Naomi Osaka that should she continue to ignore her media obligations during the tournament, she would be exposing herself to possible further Code of Conduct infringement consequences. As might be expected, repeat violations attract tougher sanctions including default from the tournament (Code of Conduct article III T.) and the trigger of a major offence investigation that could lead to more substantial fines and future Grand Slam suspensions (Code of Conduct article IV A.3.).

The joint statement said the mental health of the players is a top priority of the Grand Slams, but chose not to describe any of the “significant resources dedicated to player well-being.”

(Note: All competitors and team members receive free meals, state of the art training equipment, free transport, the AO even offers players free stringing for their racquets.)

The statement also emphasized that the rules are in place to ensure that “all players are treated exactly the same, no matter their stature, beliefs or achievement,” and that the Grand Slams have determined that Osaka’s media blackout gives her an “unfair advantage” over her competitors. 

Osaka will play Romanian Ana Bogdan in the second round.

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4 comments

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 30, 2021 at 2:56 pm

    Thiem shockingly falls to Andujar in five sets. Garin wins in four sets vs Londero.

  • Doug Day · June 1, 2021 at 7:37 am

    Chapter two of “the inmates are running the asylum”, Naomi counters sanctions with clinical depression. Lets go with talk therapy instead of woke activism says Danill Medvedev. “When im in a bad mood i often feel better after talking to you guys”. He’s a model of resilience on the court and off. Billie Jean virtue signaling about girls speaking their own truth is bearing its strange fruit.

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 1, 2021 at 9:48 am

    Doug, thanks for sharing that Medvedev quote. Very cool of Medvedev to say that about the tennis media. I did see Billie Jean King say regarding this Osaka debacle that “everybody should be able to speak their truth…” Wonder if BJK gives that right to Margaret Court and Ray Moore???

  • Scoop Malinowski · June 2, 2021 at 7:54 am

    Kichenok sisters opposing each other right now in French Open. Nadia is 16 seed with Olaru and Lydia is unseeded with Rodionova. Nadia and Olaru are up 5-1.

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