Did Naomi Osaka hint at a tennis sabbatical? Social media post sparks off speculations

Naomi Osaka has taken the internet by storm in the past week ever since she announced that she would be boycotting the French Open press conferences due to mental health issues. With Osaka seemingly facing severe backlash from the tennis federation for her decision she eventually decided to withdraw from the French Open. The Japanese ace wrote a heartfelt message on her social media account and also seemed to suggest that she may take a sabbatical.

Naomi Osaka Twitter: Is the four-time Grand Slam champion taking a sabbatical?

Naomi Osaka wrote a heartfelt post on her Twitter account to announce her withdrawal from the French Open. The 23-year-old highlighted that she had been suffering from "long bouts of depression" since the US Open in 2018. However, what fans were most concerned about is that Osaka may have hinted at taking a sabbatical as she wrote that she was going to take some time off the tour.

While this may be the first time Osaka has spoken of her own concerns, she has shown a tremendous amount of empathy towards others in the past. Last year, the Japanese tennis ace pulled out of the Western & Southern Open to draw attention towards police brutality against the Black community following the shooting of Jacob Blake. She continued to draw attention towards Black Lives Matter at the US Open as she had the names of all the people who died due to police brutality on her masks.

With Osaka now facing mental health concerns herself, a lot of people sent their good wishes to her. Some of the reactions can be seen below. 

Naomi Osaka news: Naomi Osaka French Open fines

While the tennis world showed a great amount of empathy for Naomi Osaka's feelings, the French tennis board seemed to show none of it. The French tennis board instead imposed a fine of $15,000 on Osaka since she remained true to her commitment to skipping press conferences. The French Federation had also threatened the four-time Grand Slam winner with more severe penalties, including being defaulted, if she had continued to avoid media interactions throughout the tournament. After the 23-year-old's first-round win against Patricia Maria Tig, President of the French Tennis Federation Gilles Moretton said that the penalty imposed on the Japanese player will be drawn from her prize money.

Wimbledon 2021 schedule: Will Naomi Osaka skip the tournament?

With Naomi Osaka seemingly having suggested that she is taking a sabbatical she could indeed miss Wimbledon 2021, which takes place shortly after the French Open. Wimbledon 2021 takes place from Monday, June 28 to Sunday, July 11.