Osaka out quickly at French Open
A year ago, Naomi Osaka left the French Open of her own volition, never beaten on the court but determining that she needed to pull out before the second round to stand up for herself and protect her mind.
On Monday, Osaka departed Roland Garros against her will — via a 7-5, 6-4 loss in the first round to 20-year-old American Amanda Anisimova, who is seeded 27th and also won their contest at the Australian Open in January — after taking a painkiller to try to deal with a troublesome left Achilles tendon. She tried to stretch the tendon by tugging on her neon yellow shoes at changeovers and by squatting to flex her lower leg between points.
Osaka was unable to summon the serving or court coverage on which her game is based, in part because her practice time and recent match play have been limited. The four-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player, who is now ranked No. 38 and was unseeded in Paris, double-faulted twice to end games and called the outcome “disappointing.”
Yet she also provided a measure of the way in which her mindset might have changed since her previous appearance at the clay-court major tournament, when she decided not to speak to the media at all (drawing a $15,000 fine and threat of further punishment, which prompted her withdrawal), saying that stance was because of anxiety and depression she hadn’t previously revealed. Her openness back then helped spark a wider awareness of, and conversation about, the importance of mental health.
“I’m really happy with myself,” Osaka said Monday, “because I know the emotions that I left France (with) last year.”
FOLES SIGNS WITH COLTS
Nick Foles is reuniting with Frank Reich.
That combination helped the Eagles win the 2017 NFL title. Reich now is head coach of Indianapolis, and the Colts signed free-agent quarterback Foles on Monday to back up Matt Ryan.
The Colts traded with Atlanta for Ryan earlier this offseason.
Foles got a two-year deal after spending the past two seasons in Chicago, playing in only one game in 2021 despite the Bears still paying him under a fouryear, $88 million contract he got from Jacksonville in 2019. The Bears released the 10-year veteran on May 1.
A backup to Carson Wentz with the Eagles, Foles took over late in the 2017 season when Wentz injured his knee. He guided Philadelphia to the Super Bowl, where he outdueled Tom Brady in a 4133 victory over New England, earning game MVP honors.
AUTOPSY REVEALS HASKINS WAS LEGALLY DRUNK
Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins was legally drunk and had taken drugs before he was fatally struck by a dump truck while walking on a Florida interstate highway last month, an autopsy report released Monday concluded.
The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office said Haskins’ blood alcohol content was 0.20 when he was fatally struck on Interstate 595 near Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport just before dawn on April 9. That’s 2.5 times the 0.08 legal limit for driving in the state.
According to the University of California, Davis, and other universities, someone of Haskins’ weight, 230 pounds (104 kilograms), would have needed at least 10 drinks in the hours before his death to reach that level. He also had the strong painkiller ketamine and its metabolite norketamine in his system. The drug can be prescribed by a doctor, but can also be abused recreationally. The report does not say why the former Ohio State University star had it in his system.