Naomi Pulls Out of Berlin Event, Question Mark Over Wimbledon

Naomi had withdrawn from French Open last Monday after being fined and threatened expulsion over her media boycott.

Naomi Osaka’s reluctance to interact with media didn’t go down well with the Grand Slam officials. 

Image: IANS

Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka, who controversially exited the French Open citing mental health issues, has also withdrawn from the Berlin WTA grass-court tournament beginning 14 June.

Tournament organisers said on Monday that Naomi, who had pulled out exactly a week ago from Roland Garros, had informed them that she would not feature in the Berlin tournament.

The Japanese, winner of three Grand Slam titles, has not made it clear when she would like to get back on court. With the Wimbledon set to commence on 28 June and the Tokyo Olympics beginning on 23 July, the Berlin tournament would have been the ideal preparation for the grass-court major and the Olympics.

Naomi, 23, had withdrawn from the French Open last Monday after being fined and threatened expulsion by the organizers over her media boycott.

On May 31, she posted a statement on Twitter, saying that she had "suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018" and that "it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences" because she gets "huge waves of anxiety before".

The world No. 2 headed home to Los Angeles after her French Open exit. Naomi had penned down a note of thanks to her fans for the love and support she has received since backing out from the French Open.

In her first social media activity since the incident, the 23-year-old wrote in an Instagram story: "Just want to say thank you for all the love. Haven't been on my phone much but I wanted to hop on here and tell you all that I really appreciate it."