Osaka fined for skipping press conference

PARIS, France (AP):

Naomi Osaka was fined US$15,000 (over J$2 million) at the French Open for skipping a post-match news conference after her first-round victory yesterday — and threatened by all four Grand Slam tournaments with stiffer penalties, including being defaulted, if she continues to avoid meeting with the media.

The fine will come out of Osaka’s prize money and was announced in a joint statement from the president of the French tennis federation, Gilles Moretton, and the heads of the other majors.

The statement said Osaka has been “advised” 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”.

Citing the rule book, the statement notes that “tougher sanctions” from “repeat violations” could include default — being disqualified from the tournament — and “the trigger of a major offence investigation that could lead to more substantial fines and future Grand Slam suspensions”.

Osaka vowed in a Twitter post on Wednesday she would not be doing the news conferences at Roland Garros. That didn’t mean she was able to entirely elude any question about her problems playing on red clay.

Osaka returned to Roland Garros after skipping the trip last time, turning in a mistake-filled 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over 63rd-ranked Patricia Maria Tig at Court Philippe Chatrier on day one in Paris.

After the 2020 French Open was pushed to a September start with a limit of 1,000 spectators per day because of the coronavirus outbreak, things were closer to normal yesterday: It was a sun-kissed May day and more than 5,000 fans permitted, with a delay of only a week this year due to COVID-19 concerns.

While not quite back to its packed pre-pandemic self, Roland Garros did bubble with cheers and tennis.

Other results perhaps were more newsworthy than a straight-set win by the No. 2-ranked Osaka — three-time major champion Angelique Kerber’s third straight first-round loss in Paris, for example — but the events that unfolded after the Japanese superstar’s match were of high interest.

That’s because of Osaka’s stated intention to stay away from media sessions. What remained unclear was whether she would participate in the perfunctory exchange of pleasantries with on-court ‘interviewers’ who lob softball questions so spectators can hear something from match winners.

As it turned out, Osaka did go ahead with that chat with former player Fabrice Santoro, who is hardly a journalist and kindly offered to help Osaka by carrying the flowers she was given by the tournament.

Santoro actually did raise the topic of the event’s surface, noting that Osaka’s Grand Slam titles only have come on hard courts.

She has won the Australian Open twice, including this year, and the US Open twice, including last year. But she has never been past the third round at the French Open.

Social media mention (Twitter)

“Anger is a lack of understanding. Change makes people uncomfortable.”

— @naomiosaka