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French Open Tennis. Roland-Garros 2021.

Source: Tim Clayton – Corbis / Getty

Tennis champion Naomi Osaka announces she will not attend any press briefings during the Roland Garros tournament in Paris.  Osaka pinned a candid letter to her followers explaining why she’s opted out of press in an effort to protect her mental health before her matches.

Osaka has arguably become one of the greatest athletes of our time. She has been named the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year and at the tender age of 22 years old she won her second U.S. Open. Naomi also became the world’s highest paid woman in sports for the second consecutive year racking in over $55 million. Her profit earnings on and off the court have almost doubled since last year and she lands at No. 15 in Sportico’s rankings of the top 100 highest paid athletes in the world.

Osaka is certainly focused on her game, yet she has also been engrossed in how she can better impact her community. The all-star athlete is committed to using her platform to raise awareness around several topics including social justice and police brutality. As Mental Health Awareness Month comes to a close, Osaka has written an open letter to discuss how press can trigger mental health struggles in the sports community.

She addresses her followers in the note on Twitter, “Hey Everyone. Hope you’re all doing well, I’m writing this to say I’m not going to do any press during Roland Garros.”

Even when making a statement that the people don’t necessarily want to hear, the young tennis great somehow still manages to make it sound sweet.

“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,” she continued in the open letter.

Osaka also noted that she will pay the “considerable” fine to avoid being asked questions that may trigger her to doubt her abilities on the court and protect her overall mental health. Take a look at Naomi Osaka’s note to her followers below.

 

 

Naomi Osaka Ditches Press Briefings To Prioritize Her Mental Health In An Open Letter  was originally published on globalgrind.com