Venus Williams has received her fair share of media backlash and harassment over the years, but she says that she cannot be held down no matter what is written about her.
“For me personally, how I deal with it was that I know every single person asking me a question can’t play as well as I can. And never will,” she said during a press conference at Roland Garros after losing in the first round to Ekaterina Alexandrova.
“So no matter what you say or what you write, you’ll never light a candle to me. That’s how I deal with it. But each person deals with it differently,” she added.
Williams spoke out in support of tennis star Naomi Osaka who pulled out of the French Open for the sake of her mental health.
Osaka was fined $15,000 after she skipped the news conference following her opening match victory on Sunday.
“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.
Several of the brands Osaka collaborates with have spoken out in support of her decision, including Nike and Mastercard.
Swiss luxury watchmaker TAG Heuer declared that it supports its brand ambassadors “in triumph but also during challenging periods.”
“Naomi is going through difficult times and we truly hope to see her back soon. She is a great champion and we are convinced that she will come out of this period stronger, be it professionally or personally,” the company said in a statement.
