Grand Slam tournament bosses tell media-snubbing Osaka to follow the rules

Bosses of the four most prestigious tournaments on the tennis circuit on Sunday warned the world number two Naomi Osaka she faces tough sanctions and even bans from their events if she continues to snub her post-match interviews with journalists in Paris.

The heads of the four most important tennis tournaments have warned Naomi Osaka she faces tough punishments if she does not soften her stance on snubbing her media duties. MARTIN BUREAU AFP

Osaka on Wednesday said on social media that she would not participate in the sessions with journalists at the French Open.

The 21-year-old said questions had led to phases of doubt and negativity during tournaments when she was trying to be positive and had affected her mental health.

Organisers of the French Open urged her to reconsider her stance before the start of matches on Sunday morning.

But she refused to attend the press interviews following her straight sets win over Patricia Maria Tig from Romania.

After the rebuff she was fined 13,00 euros under article III H of the Code of Conduct.

Stance

Executives from the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open then joined their counterparts from the French Open to effectively force Osaka into line.

“The mental health of players competing in our tournaments and on the tours is of the utmost importance to the Grand Slams," said a joint statement.

“We individually and collectively have significant resources dedicated to player well-being.

"In order to continue to improve however, we need engagement from the players to understand their perspective and find ways to improve their experiences.”

Osaka, who has won two US Opens and twice at the Australian Open, has never advanced further than the third round at the French Open.

It took her nearly two hours to see off the 63rd ranked Tig on centre court in the opening match of the day.

Afterwards she responded with good grace to on-court questions from former player Fabrice Santoro in front of a handful of spectators.

But she now faces a career crisis.

“We have advised Naomi Osaka that should she continue to ignore her media obligations during the tournament, she would be exposing herself to possible further Code of Conduct infringement consequences. 

“As might be expected, repeat violations attract tougher sanctions including default from the tournament and the trigger of a major offence investigation that could lead to more substantial fines and future Grand Slam suspensions.”

Equality

The tournament chiefs said they were taking the stance to underline parity for all players.

“As a sport there is nothing more important than ensuring no player has an unfair advantage over another, which unfortunately is the case in this situation if one player refuses to dedicate time to participate in media commitments while the others all honour their commitments. 

"A core element of the Grand Slam regulations is the responsibility of the players to engage with the media, whatever the result of their match, a responsibility which players take for the benefit of the sport, the fans and for themselves."