62 TIME July 19/July 26, 2021TOKYO
OLYMPICS
Gaining
Perspective
A FOUR-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMP
ON PUTTING MENTAL HEALTH FIRST
BY NAOMI OSAKA
IFE IS A JOURNEY.
In the past few
weeks, my journey
took an unexpected
path but one that has taught me
so much and helped me grow.
I learned a couple of key lessons.
Lesson one: you can never
please everyone. The world is
as divided now as I can remem-
ber in my short 23 years. Issues
that are so obvious to me at face
value, like wearing a mask in a
pandemic or kneeling to show
support for anti racism, are fero-
ciously contested. I mean, wow.
So, when I said I needed to miss
French Open press conferences
to take care of myself mentally,
I should have been prepared for
what unfolded.
Lesson two was perhaps
more enriching. It has become
apparent to me that literally
every one either suff ers from
issues related to their mental
health or knows someone who
does. The number of messages
I received from such a vast
cross section of people confi rms
that. I think we can almost uni-
versally agree that each of us is
a human being and subject to
feelings and emotions.
Perhaps my actions wereL
PHOTOGRAPH BY WILLIAMS + HIRAKAWA—AUGUST
confusing to some because
there are two slightly diff erent
issues at play. In my mind they
overlap, and that’s why I spoke
about them together, but let’s
separate them for the sake of
discussion.
The fi rst is the press. This
was never about the press,
but rather the traditional format
of the press conference. I’ll say
it again for those at the back:
I love the press; I do not love
all press conferences.
I have always enjoyed an
amazing relationship with the
media and have given numer-
ous in-depth, one-on-one inter-
views. Other than those super-
stars who have been around
much longer than I (Novak,
Roger, Rafa, Serena), I’d esti-
mate that I’ve given more time
to the press than many other
players over recent years.
I always try to answer genu-
inely and from the heart. I’ve
never been media-trained, so
what you see is what you get.
The way I see it, the reliance
and respect from athlete to
press is reciprocal.
However, in my opinion
(and I want to say that this is
just my opinion and not that ofevery tennis player on tour), the
press-conference format itself is
out of date and in great need of
a refresh. I believe that we can
make it better, more interest-
ing and more enjoyable for each
side. Less subject vs. object;
more peer to peer.
Upon refl ection, it appears
to me that the majority of tennis
writers do not agree. For most of
them, the traditional press con-
ference is sacred and not to be
questioned. One of their main
concerns was that I might set a
dangerous precedent, but to my
knowledge, no one in tennis has
missed a press conference since.
The intention was never to in-
spire revolt, but rather to look
critically at our workplace and
ask if we can do better.
I communicated that I
wanted to skip press confer-
ences at Roland Garros to exer-
cise self-care and preservation
of my mental health. I stand
by that. Athletes are humans.
Tennis is our privileged profes-
sion, and of course there are
commitments off the court that
co incide. But I can’t imagine
another profession where a
consistent attendance record
(I have missed one press confer-
ence in my seven years on tour)
would be so harshly scrutinized.PERHAPS WE SHOULD give ath-
letes the right to take a mental
break from media scrutiny on
a rare occasion without being
subject to strict sanctions.
In any other line of work, you
would be forgiven for taking
a personal day here and there,
so long as it’s not habitual.
You wouldn’t have to divulge
your most personal symptoms
to your employer; there
would likely be HR measures
protecting at least some level
of privacy.
In my case, I felt under a great
amount of pressure to disclose