Tennis News : Osaka faces default from French Open after skipping media duties

Naomi Osaka did her talking on the court with a first-round victory over Patricia Maria Tig at the French Open on Sunday, but her decision not to do any press during the tournament has been the biggest talking point during the build-up to the year's second grand slam, with the four-time grand slam champion citing mental health reasons. The grand slam tournaments issued a strong joint statement in response to Naomi Osaka's media boycott, threatening her with being defaulted from the the French Open if she does not reconsider. The statement revealed Osaka, who cited mental health issues for her decision, has been fined 15,000 US dollars (approximately £10,000) for skipping a press conference after her first-round victory. The statement read: "The Roland-Garros teams asked her to reconsider her position and tried unsuccessfully to speak with her to check on her well-being, understand the specifics of her issue and what might be done to address it on site." The statement continued: "We have advised Naomi Osaka that, should she continue to ignore her media obligations during the tournament, she would be exposing herself to possible further code of conduct infringement consequences. "As might be expected, repeat violations attract tougher sanctions including default from the tournament and the trigger of a major offence investigation that could lead to more substantial fines and future grand slam suspensions."