Naomi Osaka’s return to the news conference format after a three-month hiatus went smoothly for three questions on Monday ahead of the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio.
But Osaka, the Japanese tennis star, ended up in tears after answering the fourth query, which came from Paul Daugherty, a sports columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer. He questioned how she could balance her resistance to news conferences with the fact that her outside interests were “served by having a media platform.”
Osaka soon left the room to compose herself while the camera in use for this remote interview session was switched off.