Naomi Osaka and the French Open: The underbelly of mental health in sports
Naomi Osaka withdraws from the French Open
On May 31, 2021, four-time Grand Slam winner and the highest-paid female athlete, Naomi Osaka pulled out of the French Open citing mental health problems. The issue began when she declared that she would not be attending any press conferences associated with the tournament. She followed through on this promise by skipping the conference post her win against Patricia Tig.
In response, the federation slapped her with a $15,000 fine and threats that she would face further penalties including default from the tournament if she did not comply.
Why did Naomi refuse to attend press conferences in the first place?
In a detailed post on Instagram posted last evening, Naomi shared that she has had a long battle with depression since the US Open in 2018. As an introverted person, she doesn’t believe she is a natural public speaker and suffers from waves of anxiety right before she is expected to address the media.
With regards to the French Open, she stated that she did not feel comfortable attending the press conference and decided to skip it to exercise self-care.
Backlash from the Tennis Federation
The $15,000 penalty was announced in a joint statement from the President of the French Tennis Federation, Gilles Moretton, and the heads of the other three Grand Slam tournaments.
The federation strongly advised her to fulfil her media obligations, failing which she would be further exposing herself to Code of Conduct infringement obligations that might include suspension from future tournaments.
The irony of it all
At the time Naomi announced that she wouldn’t partake in media activities, the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open jointly wrote to her to check up on her well-being and offered support. While this is a great gesture, the note was also followed with a reminder of her obligations towards the tournament that mainly include interacting with reporters.
When Naomi announced her withdrawal, the federation was quick to call the situation “unfortunate” with little to no comments on why she felt the need to quit in the first place.
Funnily enough, in response to Naomi quitting the tournament, the French Tennis Federation President did not take any questions at the press conference.
Mental health is not a topic that is often addressed when it comes to sports, but Naomi’s drastic step has forced authorities to take a hard look at these issues.
Statements from the tennis community
In an online statement, the Grand Slam Tournaments said that mental health is of utmost importance and that they have individual and combined resources dedicated towards mental well-being.
But they also said, “A core element of the Grand Slam regulations is the responsibility of the players to engage with the media, whatever the result of their match, a responsibility which players take for the benefit of the sport, the fans and for themselves.”
Comments from fellow tennis players
Echoing the federation's sentiments, 13-time French Open Champion, Rafael Nadal said “Without the press, probably we will not be the athletes that we are today.”
“In my opinion, press is kind of part of the job. We know what we sign up for as professional tennis players”, added Ashleigh Barty, the 2019 French Open Champion.
On the other hand, Martina Navratilova, an 18-time Grand Slam Champion tweeted, "This is about more than doing or not doing a press conference. Good luck, Naomi — we are all pulling for you!"
Do you think Naomi was wrong to pull her name out of the tournament? Or do the rules of media exposure in sports deserve a review?
Will there be a third wave of Covid?
We’re in the healing process. We’re down to 1.5 lakh cases from the peak of 4 lakh+ cases in the third week of May.
It is safe to say that India was not prepared to handle the second wave of Covid-19. Since the country had to bear the brunt of taking the second wave lightly, states are already trying to predict the timing, intensity, and the groups vulnerable to the third wave.
How do you identify a Covid wave?
A wave represents the rise and fall of cases in a particular geography. Generally, a period of consistent rise in the number of cases is identified as a wave. For a specific geography, there could be sub-geographies that have their own waves. For instance, Delhi has already seen 3 Covid waves.
But let’s look at the third wave from India’s perspective.
Covid Wave 3 is a distinct possibility. The first wave of Covid was brutal on citizens above 65 years of age. Data suggests that the second wave equally impacted adults between 18 and 65. There are speculations that the next wave will affect children below 18 years of age, along with rural India. There is no fixed timeline to it and there are varied expert opinions.
Hear it from the experts
"Mostly in the winter, sometime in the end of November or early December (this year). Ensuring that all the vulnerable are vaccinated before the festive season of Diwali is important to save as many lives", said Dr. Giridhar Babu, epidemiologist and professor at the Indian Institute of Public Health in Bengaluru, and a member and advisor to the National Covid-19 Task Force in Karnataka. "The next wave will affect mostly younger age groups", he warned.
Prof Raghavan, the principal scientific advisor to the central government, said, “In the wake of the changing nature of variants, we must be ready for the third wave. We can't predict the timing, but it seems inevitable. We must prepare ourselves and be ready for it".
Source- India Today
Experts say that four key factors will determine the intensity of Covid wave 3
Proportion of vaccinated people in the country
The number of super-spreader events (large crowd gatherings)
How early (or late) are the new variants of Covid identified
The discipline of the citizens
What can you do to avoid it?
Well, it is the same!
Get vaccinated as soon as you can
Maintain social distancing
Keep double-masking
The next wave seems inevitable, but its intensity is something we can control
Some reports say that six months from the peak of wave 2, i.e. November 2021, would be a high-risk month because that’s when the immunity developed against Covid might start fading.
Our health infrastructure has improved because of the second wave. Oxygen production and availability are at an all-time high. At this juncture, a vigilant culture setting will go a long way and save numerous lives.
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