Naomi Osaka's first press conference post French Open withdrawal ends on emotional note

The past couple of months have not been great for Naomi Osaka, who first had a fallout with French Open organisers and then made an early exit from the women's singles event Tokyo Olympics. The Japanese tennis star withdrew from the French Open following the bitter fall-out from her decision to boycott all media activity at the Roland Garros due to mental health. However, the former US Champion was recently seen speaking to reporters in a press conference at the ATP Cincinnati 2021 event where she broke down in tears in the middle of the interview 

Naomi Osaka cries during an interview

Naomi Osaka news conference saw the 23-year-old failing to hold back her tears after answering questions regarding mental health. The incident happened when a local journalist asked her about balancing the media profile, and not speaking to the media. The tennis star in her reply said,  "When you say I'm not crazy about dealing with you guys, what does that refer to?" I'm not really sure how to balance the two. Like I'm figuring it out at the same time as you are."

Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron in the opening ceremony in Tokyo, said she took time off after returning and said she's motivated to do well in Cincinnati after having to withdraw from last year's event with a hamstring injury. The Western & Southern Open is considered a tune-up for the US Open, which begins Aug. 30 in New York. “I felt like I played well in Tokyo,” Osaka said. “But there was still some decisions that I didn’t make that well, so I just wanted to get that feeling back because I honestly haven’t played many matches this year. I guess I’ll see how well I do in this tournament and sort of lead it on from there into New York.”

Osaka to donate Cincinnati prize money for Haiti earthquake victims 

Recently Noami Oska had pledged to donate her prize money from the Cincinnati event to the people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. The 23-year-old in her Tweet wrote that  it 'really hurts' to see the situation in Haiti. "I feel like we really can’t catch a break,". A 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the region on Saturday, with an estimated death toll of 1,400.

(With inputs from AP)