Naomi Osaka Briefly Exits The Press Conference in Tears

 Naomi Osaka, the tennis star, briefly left the room in tears after being asked a question by a reporter during her first press conference since opening up about her mental health struggles nearly three months ago.

During a Zoom press conference, Osaka, 23, who is competing in the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati this week, answered a question from a Cincinnati Enquirer journalist about how she deals with the media when she is upset.

"You're not thrilled with dealing with us, especially in this format, but you have a lot of outside interests that would benefit from having a media platform. My question is, how do you strike a balance between the two?" Paul Daugherty, a veteran sports columnist, inquired.

"What do you mean when you say I'm not crazy about dealing with you guys?" she inquired of Daugherty.

After a long pause, the moderator asked Osaka if she wanted to move on to the next question, but she declined and asked Daugherty to repeat the question.

"I can't help but think that some of the things I tweet or say generate a lot of news articles or other things like that. And I know that these things happen because I've won a couple of Grand Slams and given a lot of press conferences "Osaka stated. "But I also admit that I'm not sure how to strike a balance. I'd say I'm figuring it out at the same time as you."

She began to cry and exited the room seconds later. She did, however, return after a short time to finish taking questions. In a statement to NBC News, her agent, Stuart Duguid, reacted angrily to Daugherty's question.

"The bully at the Cincinnati Enquirer epitomizes why player/media relations are so tense right now," he said. "Everyone on that Zoom will agree that his tone was completely inappropriate, and his sole goal was to intimidate." This is truly heinous behaviour. And the notion that Naomi's off-court success is due to the media is a myth — don't be so self-indulgent."

In a statement to NBC News, Cincinnati Enquirer Executive Editor Beryl Love defended Daugherty's question.

"We appreciate the civil conversation with Ms Osaka during the press conference. It was a simple question that we believe resulted in a meaningful exchange. Having said that, we sincerely apologize if our questions offended her in any way "Love stated.

Daugherty wrote about their conversation in an Osaka-themed column.

"She's very human, and she's not afraid to show it," he wrote.

Osaka's press conference on Monday was her first since withdrawing from the French Open after refusing to speak to the media and sharing her mental health struggles. She later withdrew from Wimbledon before deciding to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, where she was knocked out in the third round and did not medal.

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https://www.today.com/news/naomi-osaka-briefly-leaves-press-conference-tears-after-reporter-s-t228426