PARIS — The message was strong and swift, coming just hours after Naomi Osaka skipped a post-match news conference: If she did not start showing up for questioning, tennis officials would kick her out of the French Open, and perhaps out of Wimbledon, the United States Open and the Australian Open, as well.
Current and former tennis executives said the decision to take a hard line had been influenced by the need to have all players abide by the same rules and by the sport’s battle to maintain media coverage in an era of shrinking news budgets and intense competition from other forms of entertainment.