*Naomi Osaka broke down at her first press conference since pulling out of the French Open over mental health issues, a move that followed her controversial decision to forgo press conferences at the event.
During Monday’s Zoom presser ahead of her appearance at the Western & Southern Open in Ohio, Osaka took several questions without incident, until journalist Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer entered the fray.
Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times, who was present in the room, tweeted: “Someone from Cincinnati Enquirer asked her a fairly aggressively toned question about how she benefits from a high-media profile but doesn’t like talking to media. Osaka tried to engage, but after her answer began crying.”
Rothenberg said Osaka left the podium for several minutes, then returned to answer the question and finish the presser. Rothenberg later mentioned Dougherty’s tone ruined the flow of the press conference altogether, and defended her against haters on Twitter.
Watch below:
Osaka then answered Japanese Qs to complete her press conference.
This was deeply frustrating. The tennis media people who know Naomi (and whom Naomi knows) had it going smoothly, and then a local reporter completely derailed it.
Don’t blame this on “tennis media” again, folks.
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 16, 2021
The topic itself wasn’t terrible, but the aggressive tone from an unfamiliar person, after Naomi had already spoken in an earlier answer about how that’s what she finds difficult in press conferences, got things going completely awry.
(Naomi had many good moments otherwise!)
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 16, 2021
Naomi Osaka’s agent Stuart Duguid:
“The bully at the Cincinnati Enquirer is the epitome of why player / media relations are so fraught right now. Everyone on that Zoom will agree that his tone was all wrong and his sole purpose was to intimidate. Really appalling behavior.”(1/2)
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 16, 2021
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