Naomi Osaka, four time Grand Slam champion withdrew from Roland Garros on Monday, May 31st, 2021. Her boycott of the press raises interesting questions: where is the line drawn between protecting your mental health and speaking with the press as a part of your job? A larger conversation is needed, but Naomi Osaka set new boundaries this week to protect herself and her mental health, a step in the right direction for anyone struggling to balance the pressures of success.

On Sunday, Naomi Osaka won her first round game at Roland Garros, aka the French Open, and boycotted the media. Upon entering the Grand Slam, the tennis star made it clear that she had no intention of speaking to the press or participating in press conferences during the competition, citing mental health concerns, and was fined $15,000. On an Instagram post she expressed her concerns and reasons for not speaking with the press stating, “I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes' mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one. We’re often sat there and asked questions that we’ve been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I’m just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me.” Naomi ended her statement by saying, “I hope the considerable amount that I get fined for this will go towards a mental health charity.”

Now, Wimbledon, the Australian Open, and the US Open are threatening Osaka with further discipline, fines, and potentially kicking her out of the tournaments, all for protecting herself, her mental health, and setting boundaries. On Monday, May 31st, 2021, Naomi Osaka withdrew with the tournament. What happens next is yet to be determined and we are hopeful that help and resolution will come in a larger form, and with the athletes health in mind, but as we await more information we want to look at the incredible woman Naomi Osaka is, her incredible impact on the sport of tennis, and acknowledge the difficulty of setting boundaries that go against the grain.

Naomi Osaka is a 23 year old Japanese professional tennis player who is the first Asian player to hold the top rank in singles. Her father is Haitian and her mother is Japanese, and was raised in Japan until the age of 3 when her family moved to the United States. In 2018, Osaka beat Serena Willians in the US Open final and took her place as the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam singles title. Overall, she has won four Grand Slams and is currently the reigning champion at the US Open and the Australian Open. Osaka is also the first female to win back to back Grand Slam titles since Serena Williams in 2015. In 2020 she was the highest-earning female athlete of that year, making a record breaking $55.2 million, more than any other female, and often lends her platform and shows support for the Black Lives Matter movement. She packs a powerful punch in any arena of life she is in, and with a serve that registers regularly at 125 mph, I don’t recommend getting in her way.  

We support Naomi Osaka. We wish her a speedy recovery and cannot wait to cheer her during her future endeavors, tournaments, and beyond.