Four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka couldn't control her tears during her first WTA press conference ahead of the Cincinnati Masters, nearly three months after withdrawing from the French Open due to mental health issues.
An extremely emotional Osaka decided to briefly walk out of the press conference to compose herself after becoming upset by a line of questioning from Cincinnati Enquirer's Paul Daugherty.
The reporter questioned Osaka about her relationship with media: "You're not crazy about dealing with us ... yet you have a lot of outside interests that are served by having a media platform." He then asked, "how do you balance the two?"
"When you say I’m not crazy about dealing with you guys, what does that refer to?," Osaka responded.
"Well you have said you don’t especially like the press conference format. Yet that seems to be the most widely used means of communicating to the media and through the media to the public", Daugherty said.
Osaka: That’s interesting. Umm, I would say the occasion, like when to do the press conferences is what I feel is the most difficult. But ...hmm. Sorry, I’m thinking.
As Osaka took a brief pause to gather her thoughts, the moderator asked her if she wants to move onto the next question, but the star Tennis player wanted to continue.
“I’m actually very interested in that point of view," she continued. "For me I feel like this is something that I can’t really speak for everybody, I can only speak for myself. But ever since I was younger, I’ve had a lot of media interest on me, and I think it’s because of my background as well as how I play.
“But I would also say, I’m not really sure how to balance it too, I’m figuring it out at the same time as you are, I would say.”
When a reporter asked her a question related to her pledge of offering all of her winnings from the tournament to Haiti earthquake relief, Osaka broke down in tears.
Earlier in June, Osaka had decided to pull out of the French Open 2021 following her first round win. Giving information about it on social media, Osaka had revealed that she had been struggling with depression ever since winning the US Open 2018 and decide to safeguard her mental health by not taking part in any media activity.