Paris: Tennis great Boris Becker of Germany feels Japanese world No.2 Naomi Osaka’s mental health struggles could put her career in jeopardy.
Naomi on Monday withdrew from the French Open over her stand to not speak to the media due to her mental health.
“Without the media there isn’t any prize money, there isn’t any contracts. And you don’t get half the cake. I hated the media, personally. I didn’t like to speak to journalists, but I had to do it,” former world No. 1 Becker told Eurosport on Tuesday.
“She has cited that she is pulling out of the tournament altogether because she can’t cope with it. That raises much bigger questions for me because if she can’t cope with the media in Paris, she can’t cope with the media at Wimbledon, she can’t cope with the media at the US Open,” he said.
“I almost feel like her career is in danger because of mental health issues and that we should take it very seriously.”
Naomi opened up about the long bouts of depression she has suffered since being thrust into the global spotlight by winning her first Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2018 and the anxieties she experiences around talking to the media, reports DPA.
Naomi’s media boycott blew up into a huge controversy and led to the French Open organisers fining her and threatening her with disqualification from the tournament and a potential ban from future events.
