In her first press conference since she withdrew from the French Open and Wimbledon, the world’s No. 2 women’s tennis player was brought to tears before stepping away from the podium.
During a session for the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Naomi Osaka became unhinged emotionally following a question from longtime Cincinnati Enquirer sports columnist Paul Daugherty. New York Times tennis writer Ben Rothenberg stated things went smoothly for about four questions until Daughtery asked what Rothenberg called a “a fairly aggressively toned question about how she benefits from a high-media profile but doesn’t like talking to media.”
That’s when Osaka began to cry.
Rothenberg says Osaka did come back to finish off today’s press conference.
Osaka’s agent, Stuart Duguid, slammed the reporter in a statement posted by Rothenberg: “The bully at the Cincinnati Enquirer is the epitome of why player/media relations are so fraught right now. Everyone on that Zoom will agree that his tone was all wrong and his sole purpose was to intimidate. Really appalling behavior.”
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Duguid added, “And this insinuation that Naomi owes her off-court success to the media is a myth – don’t be so self-indulgent.”
