Naomi Osaka breaks down in tears following ‘appalling’ press conference question

Naomi Osaka burst into tears and exited the podium following a question on Monday during her first WTA press conference since withdrawing from the French Open to focus on her mental health.

“You’re not crazy about dealing with us, especially in this format, yet you have a lot of outside interests that are served by having a media platform,” Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty said at the 5:25 mark of the video above. “I guess my question is, how do you balance the two and also do you have anything you’d like to share with us about what you did say to Simone Biles?”

Osaka’s agent Stuart Duguid lambasted Daugherty in a statement, saying “the tone of the question was all wrong and (the reporter’s) sole purpose was to intimidate,” according to tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg.

Daugherty’s question was in a tone similar to others asked during the news conference at the Western & Southern Open in Ohio.

News conferences have been a hot-button issue for Osaka, who feels there are better ways for her to communicate with the public than sitting on the podium before or right after matches.

Osaka, the No. 2 women’s tennis player in the WTA rankings, withdrew from the French Open after being fined $15,000 for skipping news conferences, which she said were not conducive to her mental health. In June she revealed she has been suffering “long bouts of depression” since winning her first major tournament, the U.S. Open, in 2018.

On Monday, she responded to Daugherty by asking what he meant by the “crazy about dealing with us” part of his question.

When Daugherty clarified his earlier points, the 23-year-old Osaka said, “That’s interesting. I would say the occasion, like when, to do the press conference is what I feel is the most difficult, but … sorry, I’m thinking.”

Osaka then asked Daugherty to clarify himself again, and when he did, she responded: “Ever since I was younger I had a lot of media interest on me because of my background, as well as how I play … I can’t really help that I tweet or that I say that kind of create a lot of news articles … and I know it’s because I won a couple Grand Slams and I’ve gotten to do a lot of press conferences.

“I’m not really sure how to balance the two, and figuring it out at the same time as you are.”

At that point, Osaka then looked up and began to tear up. She wiped her eyes, pulled down her hat and left the podium before eventually returning.

“This insinuation that Naomi owes her off-court success to the media is a myth — don’t be so self-indulgent,” Duguid said in his statement. “The bully at the Cincinnati Enquirer is the epitome of why player / media relations are so fraught right now. Everyone on that Zoom will agree that his tone was all wrong and his sole purpose was to intimidate. Really appalling behavior.”

Daugherty, who on Twitter lists himself as a columnist for the Enquirer since 1994, has not publicly responded to Duguid’s comments.

Osaka took a break from major tennis events before returning to compete this summer for Japan at the Tokyo Olympics, where she also spoke with reporters.

Biles withdrew from several events at this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo to focus on her mental health.