Naomi Osaka grabbed the headlines again as the tennis superstar broke down in tears during her pre-tournament news conference on Monday for the Western & Southern Open. Osaka faced reporters for the first time in such a setting since her media blackout in the French Open three months ago due to mental health concerns. The Japanese star did not escape scrutiny as she had a testy exchange with one Cincinnati-based journalist.
Paul Daugherty, a writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer, grilled Osaka about her stance on the media, saying, "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."
Osaka grilled by Daugherty about her media stance
Osaka spent some time answering Daugherty's questions, even asking him to explain what he means regarding some of his statements. Osaka even highlighted one of Daugherty's remarks, asking what he meant by "I'm not crazy about dealing with you guys."
Naomi Osaka fought back tears in her 1st press conference since pulling out of the French Open. She spoke w/reporters ahead of this week's Western & Southern Open, where she has pledged any & all of her winnings from the tournament to Haiti earthquake relief.
— Lunionsuite ðŸ‡ðŸ‡¹ (@LunionSuite) August 17, 2021
🎥 @Eurosport pic.twitter.com/Z33klWqMZ6
At one point, the moderator asked Osaka if she wanted to move on to another question, but she battled through answering Daugherty's pointed questions. She made a well-thought-out response, saying, "For me I feel like this is something that I can't really speak for everybody, I can only speak for myself."
Osaka then explained that ever since she was younger, there was lots of media interest in her, not only because of her play but because of her background as well. Osaka concluded her answer by saying, "But I would also say, I'm not really sure how to balance it too, I'm figuring it out at the same time as you are, I would say."
After that exchange with Daugherty, another reporter asked Osaka about her pledge to Haiti. Osaka, who is of Haitian and Japanese descent, earlier pledged to donate her prize winnings in Cincinnati to relief efforts in Haiti after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the small nation and killed thousands over the weekend.
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Osaka breaks down in tears as agent calls reporter a bully
Osaka started to cry during that session as she decided to take a break from the podium to compose herself. Osaka eventually returned to address more questions from reporters in the video call.
It appears Daugherty's line of questioning was the reason behind Osaka's tears as the Japanese star's agent, Stuart Duguid, called the Cincinnati Enquirer writer a "bully" in a statement after the news conference.
Duguid said Daugherty "is the epitome of why player / media relations are so fraught right now." Duguid then added that everyone at that Zoom meeting would agree that Daugherty's tone was wrong and that his sole purpose was to intimidate.
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