tennis

Osaka withdraws from Indian Wells tournament

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This is the right decision. I can't help thinking she was forced into participating in the Olympic Games. Either that, or the money under the table was too much to resist. I will never understand how she was able to make so much money from sponsorship deals or how she was so popular. She doesn't have much appeal outside of Japan, has alienated Americans by renouncing her American citizenship (in public, anycase), cannot connect with the Japanese without a common language and really doesn't have that special charisma or personality.

Younger players like Raducanu and Fernandez are watching and learning from this circus show.

23 ( +27 / -4 )

I honestly think she's done. She'll never reach these heights again. She just has too many issues.

20 ( +25 / -5 )

Naomi-chan has too much baggage to compete anymore.

I guess it's time for her to take a bow.

15 ( +21 / -6 )

Morose, egotistical, narcissistic, and not playing particularly good tennis. Naomi’s days are numbered.

15 ( +23 / -8 )

Goodbye Naomi.. There's a new girl in town, humble, fun, honest and beautiful...All the things you are not.

14 ( +28 / -14 )

@Jimizo,

You might be right but that is only because she started doing the BLM thing and never once mentioned why her family had to leave Japan which was basically for the exact same reason.

What compounded things was she chose to accept Japanese nationality in order to gain huge sponsorships even though she could barely mumble a word in Japanese.

14 ( +19 / -5 )

She remains one of the best players in the world,

if not the very best.

No, not according to her form or rankings

13 ( +18 / -5 )

For a Japanese athlete, she seems to lack a "gaman" spirit.

12 ( +19 / -7 )

The sponsors won’t tolerate this Me! Me! Me! circus much longer.

12 ( +19 / -7 )

Pukey2..

She doesn't have much appeal outside of Japan

Being in the news doesn't mean she is popular. Most Japanese I know dislike her.

BTW She was a late replacement to light the Olympic flame after a certain Mr Suzuki pulled out. I think its safe to say that most people were very disappointed to see her with such an honor.

11 ( +17 / -6 )

constant drama with her

10 ( +13 / -3 )

People who become too afraid to fail often quit or withdraw. And that fear keeps them from improving.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

Over rated cry baby. Cannot believe they let her light the Olympic fire bash…like bashing her $25,700 racket

9 ( +20 / -11 )

if she's being this much of a sore loser she should take a break until she can answer the question "Do you like tennis?"

9 ( +12 / -3 )

I wonder if she regrets that brief stint promoting BLM Marxist ideologies ahead of focussing on her tennis. Seems to have been all down hill for her since.

8 ( +14 / -6 )

I’m sure her sponsors are enjoying hearing this news.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Perhaps coaching might be in her future. Anyone agree?

No. Coaching requires skill, intelligence, good judgement, selflessness, and a modicum of people skills.

8 ( +12 / -4 )

She obviously was not too stressed at the recent Emmy Awards.

Have her sponsors jumped on her bandwagon too early? Do her contractual arrangements have a "no play no pay" clause? I think not.

6 ( +8 / -2 )

S He is a ter rible pl ayer and a pathetic cry baby. Go away

6 ( +15 / -9 )

Readers, there is no need to make nasty comments. It is petty.

Does she have any other interests? with millions in the bank she could basically live off the interest forever (non-Japanese Bank interest), and develop herself as a person

4 ( +4 / -0 )

"She could retire tomorrow with her $ Hundreds of millions, and forever be the Japanese GOAT."

lol. I'm sure there are plenty of talented Japanese tennis players who might request that you hold off your Forever Crowning of Naomi for just a little while...

3 ( +6 / -3 )

"She could retire tomorrow with her $ Hundreds of millions, and forever be the Japanese GOAT."

HILARIOUS!

2 ( +7 / -5 )

@Spitfire: An A+ right on comment.

1 ( +10 / -9 )

Don't be afraid to go back to basics either mentally or the accepting fragility of life's struggles.

It affects us all

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Good for her. Take some time off. If you don't enjoy it, why do it? You have the fame, you have the money, and you have the trophies. No need to subject yourself to the crap anymore. Come back and enjoy tennis again if/when you're ready. Or don't! You've got the freedom to live anywhere and do anything.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

@Jimizo Tennis is basically a middle-class pastime. It requires skill and effort but I don’t see it as a big deal.

Huh? “Middle class”? Whats this all about?

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

@Trinity: Thanks for responding/. I was hoping someone would come up with a strong answer like that.

I actually do not think she would be a good teacher at all and possibly mentally manhandling youngsters which is not the way to teach.

A bunch of posters on here would be bad in the classroom s well.

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

Needs Mom and Dad,

Life whatever walk, was never meant to be simple, more a challenge to succeed.

And that's the easy bit.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

It makes sense, about the people with multiple handles. I've suspected that some users with notable quirky writing styles are covering up a separate username. Makes you wonder what drives some people. To tie it in with the Osaka story, I have sympathy for people battling mental health issues, and I hope that isn't at play here. Sick jokes are better than sick minds.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Any sports player that has a temper tantrum on international TV should be banned and told to apologize publicly.

-3 ( +6 / -9 )

You might be right but that is only because she started doing the BLM thing and never once mentioned why her family had to leave Japan which was basically for the exact same reason.

What compounded things was she chose to accept Japanese nationality in order to gain huge sponsorships even though she could barely mumble a word in Japanese.

Fair points. but I still don’t get the level of vitriol for a tennis player. Tennis is basically a middle-class pastime. It requires skill and effort but I don’t see it as a big deal.

I just think this level of bile is over the top. For example:

Goodbye Naomi.. There's a new girl in town, humble, fun, honest and beautiful...All the things you are not.

Mr Kipling, that was exceedingly tarty.

-5 ( +6 / -11 )

@ Jeff: A passport does not mean you inherited the Gaman attitude. It was only accessed to play for the Olympics because she would not have been accepted by the American Olympic tennis team according to the US Tennis association. www.americantennis.olympic.com

-6 ( +6 / -12 )

Perhaps coaching might be in her future. Anyone agree?

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

Naomi, please retire and become a tennis coach. You can discover and raise the next Naomi!

-10 ( +2 / -12 )

Wow, there are some real nasty Naomi haters here! Very regrettable to see. Wheres the venom for the countless male players who smash rackets, hit balls angrily at ball kids and abuse umpires? Im old enough to remember the now much loved J. McEnroe threatening the life of an umpire!

Get well soon Naomi. As long as it takes, get the head right and the tennis will follow.

She could retire tomorrow with her $ Hundreds of millions, and forever be the Japanese GOAT.

-12 ( +6 / -18 )

Easy to take a break when your making 60 million a year , you used to be humble and let your racket do the talking, now your trying too much on other matters that it's taken a toll on your mental side , 80% of which is necessary to compete at this level , please come back asap tennis needs you.

-13 ( +5 / -18 )

She remains one of the best players in the world, if not the very best.

tooheysnew: No, not according to her form or rankings

Not sure which rankings you're looking at, friend. She's currently 8th in the world, which is very impressive considering that she withdrew from the French Open mid-tourney, skipped Wimbledon all together, and lost early at the US Open. That's a sign of someone with plenty of rankings points to spare. Her status among the world's best is not in question.

https://www.wtatennis.com/rankings/singles

-14 ( +4 / -18 )

Get well soon Naomi! Looking forward to seeing you play tennis again

-15 ( +5 / -20 )

The JT community provides plenty of evidence that society's understanding and acceptance of mental health problems remain extremely poor. I'm looking forward to the time in the near future when people will be ashamed to post opinions like the ones above.

Osaka is doing just fine. It seems she's getting the help she needs, and is strong enough to make those tough decisions that will ultimately help herself in the long term. Fortunately for her, her ranking and earnings allow her the luxury of taking such a break - sadly, that remains impossible for a lot of people who are struggling in a similar way.

She remains one of the best players in the world, if not the very best. And when she is prepared to return, she will, and she'll resume winning major titles (much to the dismay of many in the JT community). She has no need to be a dancing puppet for the uneducated and uncaring masses.

Here's hoping there will be caring and understanding people available when someone in your lives is brave enough to come forward about their own mental health problems. It sure sounds as if they won't be able to talk to you about these issues.

-17 ( +7 / -24 )

There is a lot of nastiness towards her on these threads. I think the BLM support triggered a lot of them/it.

Hope she can get back to playing tennis at the top level.

-20 ( +7 / -27 )

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