Naomi Osaka

[River Don]

Roland Garos and the tennis authorities have got this very wrong.

When you have someone who would rather walk away from the sport and their livelihood than do interviews, then that should tell you something about their state of mind. It's someone who isn't thinking rationally and is obviously overcome with fear.

They should rescind that big fine now.

[BillyStubbsTears]

I see Piers Morgan has been laying into her in The Mail.

He has a bit of a thing about high-profile, non-white women and mental health, doesnt he?

[Metalmicky]

She would probably be better off out of the public eye with her ongoing metal problems.  Feel sorry for the lass, but playing in a high profile tennis tournament is perhaps not the best way to keep under the radar.

Edit:

Just heard that she intends to take some time away.......  I can't believe that Piers Morgan is wading into this - what a tool he is. 

[Redandwhite]

Bloody shite this .

Poor lass needs an arm round her shoulder, not a fine !

[Glyn_Wigley]

She's a tennis player, not a media celebrity. Press events should NOT be compulsory. Players should get paid to attend them IF THEY WANT TO DO THEM. Then it's the player's choice whether they would rather have the money or not do the interview.

Would they force an international standard tennis player who was high-functioning on the autistic spectrum to jump through the same media hoops? They're there to show their talent at playing tennis, not to be performing seals in front of journalists.

[River Don]

You'd have thought she'd just be able to get a sick note, whilst she undergoes therapy.

Do journalists want to be interviewing someone who is dreading every moment of it? Do the public want to be watching that? And is she going to be able to give anything of interest in those interviews?

[RoversAlias]

Imagine if, instead of him exercising his free right not to do interviews, Sir Alex Ferguson had quit the Premier League because they threatened him with expulsion back in the 2000s. The outcry would be enormous and the PL would back down quickly. Yet here, the sport of Tennis is happy to callously do all they can to exacerbate Naomi Osaka's mental health worries. She's one of the biggest names and best players in their sport.

I have no doubt her race is a factor to be honest. Tennis is one of the most elitist, undiverse sports there is - and I say that despite being a big fan of it in general.

Piers Morgan meanwhile isn't worth the energy. An outright cretin who clearly cannot stand successful women, particularly if they aren't white.

[idler]

Imagine if, instead of him exercising his free right not to do interviews, Sir Alex Ferguson had quit the Premier League because they threatened him with expulsion back in the 2000s. The outcry would be enormous and the PL would back down quickly. Yet here, the sport of Tennis is happy to callously do all they can to exacerbate Naomi Osaka's mental health worries. She's one of the biggest names and best players in their sport.

I have no doubt her race is a factor to be honest. Tennis is one of the most elitist, undiverse sports there is - and I say that despite being a big fan of it in general.

Piers Morgan meanwhile isn't worth the energy. An outright cretin who clearly cannot stand successful women, particularly if they aren't white.

If not doing interviews had meant not being in charge at Man. U. Fergie would have been in front of the camera like a shot.
He selectively chose not to speak to the BBC after criticism of his son who was an agent by them. He was like a big kid and I’m sure that if it had been a lower profile manager more would have been made of it.

[MachoMadness]

Piers Morgan doesn't bother me, he's basically a well-paid internet troll with a platform. My question is who the f**k is publishing him? Why is it ok for him to run columns basically suggesting mentally ill people are faking it? It's a stain on our culture that this sort of thing is still acceptable in the media.

[Glyn_Wigley]

Piers Moron knows all about faking stuff.

[big fat yorkshire pudding]

She's a tennis player, not a media celebrity. Press events should NOT be compulsory. Players should get paid to attend them IF THEY WANT TO DO THEM. Then it's the player's choice whether they would rather have the money or not do the interview.

Would they force an international standard tennis player who was high-functioning on the autistic spectrum to jump through the same media hoops? They're there to show their talent at playing tennis, not to be performing seals in front of journalists.

Glyn, she earnt $55 million last year through marketing, advertising and her brand.  I'd question whether you can only have the publicity you want and not the stuff that's harder.

Her family and management should be the ones supporting her absolutely but it's not unfair to ask for an interview. Would you accept the rovers manager not doing interviews after a defeat?

[BillyStubbsTears]

Piers Morgan doesn't bother me, he's basically a well-paid internet troll with a platform. My question is who the f**k is publishing him? Why is it ok for him to run columns basically suggesting mentally ill people are faking it? It's a stain on our culture that this sort of thing is still acceptable in the media.

The Mail knows what its readership wants...

[River Don]

She's a tennis player, not a media celebrity. Press events should NOT be compulsory. Players should get paid to attend them IF THEY WANT TO DO THEM. Then it's the player's choice whether they would rather have the money or not do the interview.

Would they force an international standard tennis player who was high-functioning on the autistic spectrum to jump through the same media hoops? They're there to show their talent at playing tennis, not to be performing seals in front of journalists.

Glyn, she earnt $55 million last year through marketing, advertising and her brand.  I'd question whether you can only have the publicity you want and not the stuff that's harder.

Her family and management should be the ones supporting her absolutely but it's not unfair to ask for an interview. Would you accept the rovers manager not doing interviews after a defeat?

People don't invest in tennis players like they do football clubs. There aren't going to be fans demanding answers of a tennis player like they would a football manager.

It doesn't matter much what someone earns if they aren't able to take rational decisions.The issue here is tennis might just end up driving one of their star players out of the game altogether only because she has social anxiety and can't face interviews.

That would be a loss to tennis and the people who follow it.

[redwine]

She's a tennis player, not a media celebrity. Press events should NOT be compulsory. Players should get paid to attend them IF THEY WANT TO DO THEM. Then it's the player's choice whether they would rather have the money or not do the interview.

Would they force an international standard tennis player who was high-functioning on the autistic spectrum to jump through the same media hoops? They're there to show their talent at playing tennis, not to be performing seals in front of journalists.

Glyn, she earnt $55 million last year through marketing, advertising and her brand.  I'd question whether you can only have the publicity you want and not the stuff that's harder.

Her family and management should be the ones supporting her absolutely but it's not unfair to ask for an interview. Would you accept the rovers manager not doing interviews after a defeat?

Having heard many Darren Moore ones, it's a yes from me.

[idler]

You can’t go into a sport without seeing what it entails. She has been on the circuit and seen her idols giving interviews and must have known what was coming. Maybe the volume has shocked her a bit but every tournament she has entered for years she must have seen the winners and runners up being in the spotlight. Then there are the demands from your own country’s  media plus sponsors etc. wanting their return on their financial input.
She could walk away and be set for life, a loss to sport but there aren’t many careers where you can do that at her age. The unfortunate thing is that this story just increases the pressure and exposure to her private life.

[River Don]

I think it was Sue Barker who said today that she would dread interviewing her as an upcoming player because she was so painfully shy it was difficult to get more than two words out of her. It obviously is an ongoing issue and she must have realised the problem long ago.

But what does she do? just pack in a promising career in sport because of an irrational phobia?

[Glyn_Wigley]

She's a tennis player, not a media celebrity. Press events should NOT be compulsory. Players should get paid to attend them IF THEY WANT TO DO THEM. Then it's the player's choice whether they would rather have the money or not do the interview.

Would they force an international standard tennis player who was high-functioning on the autistic spectrum to jump through the same media hoops? They're there to show their talent at playing tennis, not to be performing seals in front of journalists.

Glyn, she earnt $55 million last year through marketing, advertising and her brand.  I'd question whether you can only have the publicity you want and not the stuff that's harder.

Her family and management should be the ones supporting her absolutely but it's not unfair to ask for an interview. Would you accept the rovers manager not doing interviews after a defeat?

Yes, we have no right whatsoever to expect one. It's nice to have one, of course, but we're not entitled to one at all.

[idler]

I would imagine any manager that doesn’t engage with fans and local if not national media wouldn’t last too long.
Even the foreign managers speak through an interpreter odd their command of English isn’t good enough. It has now become an integral part of the manager’s remit. Rightly or wrongly.

[River Don]

Any significant degree of social anxiety would make it impossible to be a football manager.

There aren't too many introverted football managers. Sean O Driscoll was quite a quiet character... But he had John Ryan to do all the talking for him!

[Glyn_Wigley]

If a Rovers manager thought it would be good for the team to have a siege mentality where neither the players nor the manager gave any interviews I wouldn't give a monkeys as long as it got results.

[Draytonian III]

The tennis players seem to have do interviews after every match so that could be 4 or 5 in a week depending on their ability. It must get tedious answering the same questions nearly every time

[Glyn_Wigley]

The tennis players seem to have do interviews after every match so that could be 4 or 5 in a week depending on their ability. It must get tedious answering the same questions nearly every time

Which raises the next important question - given that everybody seems to learn to be as anodyne, cliche-ridden and as uncontroversial as possible, is there any real point to interview after interview that are just recycled earlier interviews? You never really find out anything new.

[Metalmicky]

I find it slightly conflicting that she is refusing to do relatively benign 'cut and paste' interviews about a tennis game, but then actively courts media attention in support of BLM issues... It's an important and relevant movement, but it seems strange that she can throw herself into that cause, but has an issue doing an insipid post match interview.....

I hope she works it out and finds a balance... but the fact that she refused to do these interviews - and thereby made the news - means that the media circus won't be going away any time soon.

[MachoMadness]

People have the right to engage with the media on their own terms. Just because you promote certain causes or even brands doesn't mean you should be forced into doing every bit of media if it makes you unwell.

[VivaRovers]

There aren't too many introverted football managers. Sean O Driscoll was quite a quiet character... But he had John Ryan to do all the talking for him!

It wasn't necessarily that Sean was quiet – having interviewed him he really is happy to talk at length – it's more that he didn't see the merit or purpose in a lot of the interviews he was obliged to do. I'm inclined to agree with him too. I really don't get the fascination with post-match interviews in any sport; they rarely bring anything incisive. Much better to give players and managers time to reflect, watch things back, and then offer their take. But then I guess that doesn't fit with a 24 hour media's need for stories.

[Metalmicky]

From what I understand her argument is that she shouldn't be interviewed after defeat - if that's the case it's hard to have much sympathy with her...... I think she has won 4 of the 8 grand slam tournaments she has played in.  Now if I was one of the Brit lasses - then maybe there is a case. 

However.... and I'm playing devil's advocate here, if she doesn't want to be interviewed when she loses, perhaps she shouldn't sign the contract that says she will be paid lots of money for services, including being interviewed when she loses - the media/sponsors etc. want their 2 minutes.... and they've paid for it.  Let's also be fair, it's hardly a Paxman-esque style grilling they undergo, and less invasive than some interviews I've seen after a footy/rugby/cricket game or motor race.

[Dutch Uncle]

Viva’s last sentence leads me to a possible compromise in the tennis world. Maybe the winner of a match should be interviewed directly after but the loser has the option of delaying the interview by an hour if they wish, to recover physically and emotionally.

IMHO I think Osaka’s initial statement was not great in timing and manner, and I believe she has said as much, but the Tennis authorities went way over the top in response.

[Metalmicky]

Viva’s last sentence leads me to a possible compromise in the tennis world. Maybe the winner of a match should be interviewed directly after but the loser has the option of delaying the interview by an hour if they wish, to recover physically and emotionally.

IMHO I think Osaka’s initial statement was not great in timing and manner, and I believe she has said as much, but the Tennis authorities went way over the top in response.

Good suggestion.....

[River Don]

From how I under stand it Osaka has a longstanding problem with social anxiety and wasn't good with interviews at all but she has improved. I can understand how dealing with interviews after a defeat might still feel intolerable to her though.

It doesn't matter if it doesn't look obviously difficult to us. She finds the idea of explaining herself infront of thousands of people so tough, that she's prepared to stop competing. I don't think the media really wants that.

Is it better that she walks away from the game until such a time that she feels that she can cope? Realistically she might never be able to do it. Or does tennis give her a pass on doing interviews based on medical grounds?

It's a bit of the blow to the Japanese, who are unlikely to see one of their medal hopes compete in their home Olympics.