Osaka crisis hits French Open as Djokovic, Williams begin title bids
Naomi Osaka announced on Monday she was withdrawing from Roland Garros after she was threatened with disqualification for boycotting media duties, while on court, Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Iga Swiatek all reached the second round.
Osaka revealed that she has been suffering long periods of depression. The world No.2 Osaka, who had already been fined $15 000 and threatened with disqualification for refusing to take part in a news conference after her first round win, said she was going to take a break from the sport.
“The best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris,” said the 23-year-old Japanese star, a fourtime Grand Slam title winner.
She claimed on the eve of Roland Garros that such post-match inquests were akin to “kicking people when they are down” and that they had a detrimental effect on her mental health.
“I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer. The truth is I have suffered bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that. In Paris, I was already feeling vulnerable and anxious so I thought it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences.”
On the court on Monday, Federer, Williams and Swiatek all reached the second round. There was also good news for South Africa as Lloyd Harris continued to punch above his weight to claim the scalp of Lorenzo Sonego with a 7-5 6-4 6-4 upset win.
Federer kicked off only his second Roland Garros campaign in six years with an impressive dismissal of Denis Istomin. Federer arrived at Roland Garros having played only three matches since his Australian Open semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic last year, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
The Swiss great lost to Pablo Andujar in his first clay-court outing of the season earlier this month in Geneva, but struck 48 winners as he raced to victory over Istomin.
Meanwhile, later on Monday Williams survived a brief scare against Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu to win 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 in the first ever official Roland Garros night match.
The 39-year-old, still one behind Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, saved two set points in the first-set tie-break but dominated from then on.
“It wasn’t easy in that first set. I was up and I felt like I had some opportunities,” said Williams, who will next face Begu’s compatriot Mihaela Buzarnescu.