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| Naomi Osaka |
Naomi Osaka struggled to hold back tears in her first press conference since pulling out from the French Open over mental health concerns on Monday (16 August).
The 23-year-old broke down during a press conference at the Cincinnati Open when local reporter Cincinnati Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty appeared to confront her about balancing having a big media profile and not speaking to the media.
After a brief exchange, the Japanese started tearing when another reporter asked tennis-related questions and the four-time Grand Slam champion left the room to compose herself.
Naomi Osaka explained on Monday (16 August) that her move to donate prize earnings from the Cincinnati Open was to raise awareness about the situation in Haiti.
Osaka, who is of Haitian and Japanese descent, made the announcement on Twitter on Sunday.
“For Haiti, I feel like I’m not really doing that much,” Osaka said in her first press conference since her withdrawal from the French Open over mental health concerns.
“The prize money thing, it’s sort of like the first thing that I thought of that I could do that would raise the most awareness,” Osaka said in her pre-tournament press conference.
More than 1,400 people have died since a 7.2 magnitude earthquake rattled Haiti over the weekend and injured over 6,000.
The Cincinnati Open has a $255,220 prize purse.
AFP
