Naomi Osaka has opened up about her controversial decision to boycott press conferences and withdraw from the 2021 Roland Garros.
Osaka refused to attend obligatory news conferences for players after matches at last year's Roland Garros event. The Japanese player beat Patricia Maria Tig in the opening round but was fined $15,000 for failing to carry out her press duties at the event.
Eventually, the four-time Grand Slam champion withdrew from the French Open altogether. Later in the 2021 season, Osaka also withdrew from Wimbledon, struggled at the US Open, and decided to take an indefinite break from tennis following a defeat to Leylah Fernandez at Flushing Meadows.
Osaka revealed that she has been struggling with mental health since 2018 before she returned to action for the 2022 campaign. As a result, the Japanese player is expected to compete at the Roland Garros this season, a year since her withdrawal from the event.
Osaka expressed worry about this year's French Open during her pre-tournament press conference. During the interaction with reporters, the 23-year-old said that her behavior might have offended some people last year, and she stated that she could have handled the situation better.
"I was just kind of worried if there would be people that like -- of course I also didn't like how I handled the situation, but I was worried that there were people that I offended in some way and I would just kind of bump into them."
"I was also very worried about this press conference because I knew I'd get a lot of questions about this."
Osaka will enter the 2022 French Open with a match against Amanda Anisimova as she attempts to win the clay-court Grand Slam for the first time. The former world number one lifted her last major at the beginning of the 2021 season when she won her second career Australian Open.
Although the Japanese player feels in a better mental state than she did last season, she admitted that she still feels anxious about how things played out at the 2021 Roland Garros. For Osaka, such a high-profile development is difficult to forget after just one year.
"But, yeah, I think for me where I am right now, like I have -- I wouldn't want to say it's like it hasn't left my mind. Of course, I'm still thinking about it, and I'm like kind of also prepping just in case... Yeah, for the most part, I think I'm OK."