Osaka earns support after announcing break from sport

Retired athletes voiced their support for four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka after she said she would take a break from tennis having lost her enthusiasm for competition.

The world No.3 suffered a stunning defeat in the third round of the US Open on Friday, before tearfully telling reporters she planned to take an indefinite break from the sport.

“I feel recently, when I win I don’t feel happy. I feel more relief,” said Japan’s Osaka, months after publicly disclosing that she had suffered from depression.

“Take all the time you need to recover, rest, and heal, @naomiosaka,” 12-time Grand Slam singles champion Billie Jean King wrote on Twitter on Saturday. “Sending you love and support.”

Retired American tennis player James Blake applauded her decision.

“Please do what is best for you @naomiosaka,” he said on social media. “We want to see your extraordinary tennis again, but more importantly, we want to see you happy.”

Six-time Grand Slam winner Boris Becker responded to Blake in a quote retweet: “That’s right.”

The 23-year-old has ushered in a new conversation around mental health in professional sport after she dropped out of the French Open amid a public row over mandatory press conferences at the Grand Slam, saying they took too great a toll on her mental wellbeing.

Osaka’s influence extends far beyond the court, as she brought the Black Lives Matter protest to tennis’s international platform a year ago, becoming a leading figure for athlete advocacy in the process.

“Good decision. Young, trying to figure out life, how to win consistently, and as a huge celebrity athlete is hard! Trying to also be a change maker too. Exponentially harder!” four-time Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Michael Johnson wrote on Twitter.

“If there was ever a need for an athlete to step away, this is it.” 

I thought it was a bit harsh, a bit excessive. My job is not to measure logos. My job is to win matches. I have bigger things to worry about.

—  Reilly Opelka

Meanwhile, American Reilly Opelka hit out at the US Tennis Association (USTA) on Saturday, calling his $10,000 (R143,000) fine by the US Open organisers for carrying an unapproved bag on court a joke.

The USTA ruled that the bag Opelka took to court on Thursday, during his second round win over Italian Lorenzo Musetti, included manufacturer logos that exceeded the approved limit of four square inches.

Opelka, the 22nd seed at this year’s US Open, walked out for his match against Musetti with a pink tote bag bearing the name of a Belgian art gallery.

“I mean, what a joke on the US Open to do that, 10K for a pink bag? Come on,” Opelka said after his third-round win over Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili.

“The head referee was telling me you should have come in and had this thing measured ... We had that logo specifically made. We measured. It is too big. It was not the same bag I was using at the French Open. We made the effort to make it smaller.

“There was a mistake in production, I think, because in Europe with the conversion, with what was allowed. But, yeah, I made the effort. The referee told me that it was too big and that was it. She said to cover one side of it.”

Opelka also took a dig about the decision on Twitter, saying “US Open ticket sales must be struggling this year”.

He said he was not aware of the fine, the highest at this year’s US Open, until a journalist commented on it on Twitter.

“I didn’t even find out from them, which is even more comical,” he said, adding that other players have got away with much worse and smaller fines.

“I thought it was a bit harsh, a bit excessive. My job is not to measure logos. My job is to win matches. I have bigger things to worry about.

“I’d love to see the amount get donated elsewhere. We’ve had a few tragedies here in the States the last couple weeks. If they are going to take 10K from me, it better not go to a major corporation. That’s my thought.” 

— Reuters