Raising her voice

The image of Osaka fighting back tears, head down, standing next to Serena Williams after her most significant career triumph amid the crowd’s boos and jeers at the 2018 US Open final was a defining one in modern tennis. Indeed, it had its aftereffects as well, as Osaka --- the world’s highest paid female athlete --revealed in her note on Monday about having a tough time coping with “long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018”.

Osaka, though, has since evolved into becoming one of the most opinionated and outspoken sportspersons worldwide. The soft-spoken Japanese-american has not been shy of raising her voice against racial and social injustice in the US (who can forget her seven masks to honour seven Black victims of violence en route to winning the US Open last year), police brutality, gender equality or even criticising the former Tokyo Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori on his “ignorant” sexism. All of that in past 12 months.

Perhaps, the reluctant public speaker in Osaka had hoped to shake things up--like she has her way in the past--in Paris with regards to Grand Slams and the professional tours mandating players’ engagement with the press. But the collective show of power by the Grand Slam bosses led to an awkward situation and a premature withdrawal that neither Osaka nor the French Open organisers would have imagined at the start of it all.

With less than one month for the Wimbledon and two for the Tokyo Olympics, Osaka has sought some time away from tennis. “I’ll see you when I see you,” is how she ended Monday’s note.

Wonder when we’ll get to hear from her next.