Musetti takes out former world #7 Goatfin in straight sets. Sinner also advanced in five sets, but Sonego lost to Lloyd Harris in a bit of an upset (Sonego was in very good form).
Imagine if Serena loses today (not likely, but it's a possibility, match just about to start) and the women's draw would lose her, Bianca, Naomi, and Muguruza today.
I see it as the only good outcome that puts a reasonable path forward for everyone after Osaka initiated it by putting the tournament and other players in an awful situation. Just saw a Zverev press conference where he spent 2:30 out of his allotted time talking about Osaka. That's how much she's completely taken the tournament over.
I wonder if Osaka was surprised that she got basically zero support (aside from supporting her personally and her mental health) from other players for her stance on the media.
remember that Osaka's introduction to stardom was getting booed by a moronic US Open crowd during her first slam victory speech. since then she's become the highest paid and arguably highest profile female athlete on earth, and we're often quick to wonder what someone like that has to worry about, when in fact that's probably the whole reason she's in her current state.
I won't argue that Osaka should be exempt from media obligations going forward, this is something she needs to work on getting comfortable with as it is part of the job description. but who in those grand slam authority committees saw this clearly unwell player already on the fence about being in Paris and thought "the best way to get her back on track is to threaten her with sanctions like she's North Korea!". how about "While press conferences are an essential component of participation on the tour, we recognize that Osaka is currently experiencing challenges meeting this obligation. We will work with her and her team to ensure that she is in the best possible state going forward and able to fulfill all grand slam participation requirements."
she's certainly not the first player with these issues but maybe the first with the influence and activist mindset to actually make change happen. we've had tons of laughs over the years at Tomic the Tank Engine, but really that's another example of someone who should have been getting mental health assistance instead of endless ridicule from all sides of the sport.
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while I completely agree with that and think that PCs are just part of the job description, I'll also say the threat of expulsion was a really dumb reaction by the Tour, especially when mental health is part of the issue. Just let her pay the fines if she doesn't want to do them ... shouln't be a big deal.
Well, for starters, if they don't drop the hammer, it essentially opens the door for anyone with the financial means inside the top 25 to start saying "no, I'll just pay the fine" when it comes to media availability. A precedent needed to be set here.
You're a pro athlete and you're paid, sponsored and a draw at the event based on making yourself available for a few minutes a day. There a countless ways to handle this situation and be more proactive than simply springing it on a major event.
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also, I get that when the other players are asked about it, they don't necessarily want to stick their neck out and get rolled up in the bad press too, but the whole "I don't ever have a problem doing press conferences so she shouldn't either" is a huge step back for mental health awareness. the first rule is never assuming you can relate to how someone's feeling or that they can just change it by force of will.
the other big part is not using her wealth, fame, or behavior under different circumstances against her. she can be completely comfortable posting bikini pics on instagram while also having severe anxiety facing the press, there's no relation between those things at all. if Osaka says that this is a big problem for her, I will take her word for it unless there's evidence otherwise.
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I mean, nobody wins with Naomi withdrawing. The tourney is poorer for it, but more importantly, the amount of anxiety and stress that it causes for Naomi goes up exponentially. Wimbledon is only four weeks away and there's already speculation that she won't be playing that tournament as well. Naomi was up front with her intentions and the tourney responded with bullying, threats, and fines. It's 2021 and we still have a long ways to go as far as the stigma of mental illness is concerned.
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Something is clearly up with Osaka and I won't pretend to understand what she's going through. While I was in the camp she should do press conferences, this isn't the outcome I wanted. The French Open and her should have come to a compromise, perhaps a press conference via Zoom in her hotel room so she is in a more comfortable setting for example I'm not sure. Or maybe she could have gotten a pre printed list of questions that she answers in a room by her self with no press there. Unfortunately now the next press conference she does attend this will be all they talk about and instead of trying to make things better she may have made them worse for her.
Begu was serving for the first set at 6-5, got broken, was up 6-4 in the tie-break and dropped four straight points. I expect Serena to win set 2 by a 6-1 or 6-2 score.
I mean, nobody wins with Naomi withdrawing. The tourney is poorer for it, but more importantly, the amount of anxiety and stress that it causes for Naomi goes up exponentially. Wimbledon is only four weeks away and there's already speculation that she won't be playing that tournament as well. Naomi was up front with her intentions and the tourney responded with bullying, threats, and fines. It's 2021 and we still have a long ways to go as far as the stigma of mental illness is concerned.
I don't agree. Naomi was bullying the tournament by announcing her intentions without seeking accommodation from them. She expected the tourney to capitulate to her demands and they called her bluff.
I think Naomi wins because she can take the time off and treat her illness, and the tournaments win because they can continue to fulfill their end of the bargain to their stakeholders.
Mental health is obviously an important topic. But here is the thing. Athletes don’t like doing press conferences but it’s important to fans and sponsors though, who pay their salaries.
When an athlete cites mental health as their reason for getting out of it, it can have the effect of trivializing the issue which is exactly what happened here. Her handlers could have done a much better job of explaining where she was coming from. Which hopefully then elicits a different response from the tour.
also, I get that when the other players are asked about it, they don't necessarily want to stick their neck out and get rolled up in the bad press too, but the whole "I don't ever have a problem doing press conferences so she shouldn't either" is a huge step back for mental health awareness. the first rule is never assuming you can relate to how someone's feeling or that they can just change it by force of will.
the other big part is not using her wealth, fame, or behavior under different circumstances against her. she can be completely comfortable posting bikini pics on instagram while also having severe anxiety facing the press, there's no relation between those things at all. if Osaka says that this is a big problem for her, I will take her word for it unless there's evidence otherwise.
None of the other players said that. The general message is that they respect Naomi's decision and hope that she is well, but that they consider it part of their job and that journalism is important. There is nothing about pushing her to do press conferences so I'm not sure where you got that message - perhaps there's something I missed from one of the other players that you could link to me?
I don't agree. Naomi was bullying the tournament by announcing her intentions without seeking accommodation from them. She expected the tourney to capitulate to her demands and they called her bluff.
I think Naomi wins because she can take the time off and treat her illness, and the tournaments win because they can continue to fulfill their end of the bargain to their stakeholders.
I also hope that Naomi can get the help and support she needs and also takes as much time as she needs to get healthy. While I understand that attending press conferences are part of the job for athletes, it could have been handled much differently than it was. Put it this way, if she takes the Marshawn Lynch approach and says "I'm just here so I won't get fined", that will likely just exacerbate the situation.
None of the other players said that. The general message is that they respect Naomi's decision and hope that she is well, but that they consider it part of their job and that journalism is important. There is nothing about pushing her to do press conferences so I'm not sure where you got that message - perhaps there's something I missed from one of the other players that you could link to me?
nobody said it that way verbatim, but I read lots of quotes that were in the range of "I don't mind doing press conferences personally", or "I actually like them even after a loss, they are kind of theraputic". those comments aren't really helpful because Osaka clearly feels differently about them. Re-affirming that it's part of the job and she'll need to find a way to make it work, that's ok...talking about how PCs are no sweat for yourself personally, well that's great but that's not really the issue at hand.
Mental health is obviously an important topic. But here is the thing. Athletes don’t like doing press conferences but it’s important to fans and sponsors though, who pay their salaries.
When an athlete cites mental health as their reason for getting out of it, it can have the effect of trivializing the issue which is exactly what happened here. Her handlers could have done a much better job of explaining where she was coming from. Which hopefully then elicits a different response from the tour.
Tennis press conferences are notoriously terrible though, there are often reporters there who don't even know anything about the player or even if they won or lost the match.
Often times, they want to make themselves the story or ask questions to see what kind of response they can get. I remember Steffi Graf fighting back tears when being asked questions about her dad being arrested for tax evasion (like what does that have to do with the match). Monica Seles being asked questions about her weight after her comeback from that horrific stabbing in Hamburg. And we don't have to look overseas, Canadian Rebecca Marino was as high as #38 in the world back in 2011 and quit the game due to mainly on-line bullying which led to her own battle with depression.
The on-court interview post-match is fine with me, ask the player questions about the match and leave it at that.
