Tennis champion Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from Wimbledon.
Osaka’s team says she will still compete at the Tokyo Olympics.
“She is taking some personal time with friends and family. She will be ready for the Olympics and is excited to play in front of her home fans,” a statement issued by her reps said.
The 23-year old, who is ranked no.2 in the world, withdrew from the French Open after the first round, citing a much-needed mental health break.
A week prior to her French Open withdrawal, she announced that she would not be participating in any news conferences during the upcoming French Open while citing her need to preserve her mental health as the reason.
“I’ve often felt that people have no regard for athletes’ mental health and this rings very true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one,” she wrote. “We’re often sat there and asked questions that we’ve been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I’m just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me.”
Osaka said she hoped officials would note her reasons and donate her fines to a mental health charity. She was fined $15,000 after she skipped the news conference following her opening match victory. After being fined, and the amount not being donated towards a mental health charity, Osaka bid the tournament farewell.
“I think now the best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can go back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris,” she said after receiving the fine.
While some have criticized Osaka’s decision to bow out of two of the largest tennis tournaments in the world, the majority of spectators applaud her decision to take her mental health into her own hands.
