Tennis star Naomi Osaka has gotten herself in trouble with tennis authorities for refusing to talk to the sports press, but it appears her boycott doesn’t extend to Vogue Japan.
Osaka is set to appear on the cover of the magazine’s August issue. However, this is the same tennis pro who has refused to participate in the French Open because she was told she must give interviews to the sports press to participate.
The number two-ranked player insisted that she withdrew from the French Open so as not to be “a distraction” for the other players.
“I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris,” she said.
She also claimed she had been dealing with depression and social anxiety and decided to “exercise self-care and skip the press conference.”
Apparently, though, Osaka’s depression didn’t keep her from appearing on the cover of Vogue Japan. Osaka alerted fans in an Instagram post that she is set to appear on the August issue.
Not everyone in the world of tennis is on Osaka’s side, though. Tennis legend Boris Becker recently criticized Osaka in a comments with Eurosport.
“She couldn’t cope with the pressures of facing the media, especially after she loses a match … that happens frequently, and you have to deal with it. I always believed that’s part of the job,” Becker said. “Without the media, there isn’t any prize money, there isn’t any contracts and just you don’t get half the cake.”
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