Osaka reduced to tears at first press conference in three months

Naomi Osaka broke down in tears in her first press conference since withdrawing from the French Open for mental health reasons.

The four-time grand slam champion pulled out of Roland-garros on May 31 after being threatened with expulsion over refusing to fulfil media duties. The 23-year-old missed Wimbledon, but returned to action for the Olympics in her native Japan, and agreed to take part in her first press conference in almost three months yesterday. Osaka has received a bye into Cincinnati’s Western and Southern Open second round, but was reduced to tears when quizzed on how to balance her issues with press conferences against benefiting from her profile.

“I would say the occasion, when to do the press conferences, is what I feel is the most difficult,” said Osaka, before pausing. “Ever since I was younger, I’ve had a lot of media interest on me, and I think it’s because of my background as well as how I play. I’m not really sure how to balance it, I’m figuring it out at the same time as you are.”

After offering that considered answer, Osaka then broke down while trying to listen to the next question. The world No2 then left the press conference to compose herself, before returning, answering one further question in English and several in Japanese.

Meanwhile, only one in five tennis coaches is a woman, according to a report that shows the game is now played by 87million people globally. The International Tennis Federation found a disproportionate 22 per cent of the 149,000 qualified instructors are female. Of those who play the sport, 41 per cent are women. However, the ITF’S Global Tennis Report 2021 concluded the proportion of women coaches was improving in its study of 41 co-operating nations.