• Analysis Federer on the shoulder, Nadal in the infirmary and Djokovic on the couch

Two years ago, during her time at the Mutua Madrid Open,

Naomi Osaka

let it fall, without anyone giving it too much importance, that she missed when tennis was simply a game, that she feared that she would lose her taste for competition too soon. He already had two of his four Grand Slam titles, was the first in the ranking and had astonished the world with his Zen attitude, calibrating his heart rate while

Serena Williams

undertook it with

Carlos Ramos

, chair umpire in the final of the United States Open States of 2018.

In that appearance prior to the tournament, at the Caja Mágica, a 21-year-old girl could already be seen very shy and uncomfortable in front of journalists, forced to a task that was far from to her liking. The conquest of the second

Australian Open

and a new

US Open

and consolidation as one of the great athletes of our time did nothing but aggravate her tendency to introversion, until the now famous abandonment at the last Roland Garros for refusing a press conference, with the consequent fine of 15,000 euros.

Osaka stepped aside, gave up

Wimbledon

and reappeared at the Olympics as a torchbearer in the opening ceremony before being eliminated in the round of 16. In Cincinnati again in front of journalists, via Zoom, as imposed by the pandemic, the Japanese woman burst into tears shortly after Paul Daugherty, of the

Cincinnati Enquirer

, asked her if, despite not feeling comfortable with the media, she was taking advantage of her media projection for other interests beyond tennis and on how he could combine both.

"Since I was younger, the media has been very interested in me because of my background and my way of playing. I can't help that some things that I tweet, because I think that with it I can help, generate repercussions. But I would also say I'm not quite sure how to balance it. I'd say I'm trying to figure it out, as are you. "

It was then, while the player covered her face with her visor at the first hint of crying, that the moderator interrupted the press conference, which would resume a few minutes later.

Defense of the environment

The player's agent,

Stuart Duguid

, reproached the journalist's attitude. "The discussion is an example of why relationships between players and the media are so strained right now. Everyone at that Zoom will agree that his tone was wrong and his sole purpose was to intimidate. Really egregious behavior."

Born to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother, the world number two commented afterwards that she will donate the proceeds from this tournament to help the victims of the new earthquake in Haiti.

Since

becoming

elite,

Osaka

has been characterized by its commitment and social activism.

Precisely, in Cincinnati, a year ago, he led a boycott that forced the suspension of a day of the tournament, in protest of the murder of Jacob Blake at the hands of the police.

Shortly after, at the US Open, he appeared at each of his matches with the name of a recent victim of racism inscribed on his mask.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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