"Time out to spend time with friends and family": tennis star Osaka will not play at Wimbledon

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After her first round win at the 2020 French Open, it was not foreseeable that Naomi Osaka would not play for the second game

Photo: MARTIN BUREAU / AFP

Tennis player Naomi Osaka will not compete in Wimbledon after leaving the French Open.

"She is taking time out to spend time with her friends and family," said her agent to the AFP news agency.

Osaka will be ready for the Olympic Games.

She is looking forward to playing in front of the home fans.

Osaka last left the tournament at the French Open in Paris before her second round game and then made it public that she repeatedly suffered from depression and anxiety.

This was preceded by a dispute over a media boycott of Osaka, which she announced shortly before the start of the French Open in order to draw attention to the mental health of athletes.

The tournament officials in Paris fined Osaka $ 15,000 after the 23-year-old Japanese failed to appear at the mandatory press conference after her first round victory.

In addition, the tournament organizer threatened to expel her should she fail to meet her media obligations.

As a consequence, Osaka did not appear in their second round match and spoke openly about their mental health.

The two-time US Open winner then received a lot of positive reactions from active and former players.

Most recently, Osaka withdrew its participation in the current lawn tournament in Berlin.

svs / dpa / AFP / sid