Cincinnati (Tennis news): International athletes are known to have a hectic and tight schedule. Their fitness and diet regimes are almost impossible to follow as their standards are too high to reach. Their superhuman abilities in the end pay a price now or then in their careers. Since the French Open, Naomi Osaka has been in the news on the issue of mental health in athletes. During the French Open after a first round victory, she chose to skip the press conference. This invited criticism from the organisers as she failed to fulfill her media duties. Osaka was given a warning that she would not be allowed to compete and was fined $15,000 by Roland Garros. She withdrew from the tournament citing mental health as a reason and wanted to protect her wellbeing. In the recent Cincinnati Masters 1000, Osaka had defended her actions during the French Open and was in tears as she answered the questions, the conference had to be halted for a while and later continued as she composed herself.

Also read: Dimtrov and Berrettini notch up victories as Giorgi gets knocked out in Cincinnati

She had stated she has anxiety and faces problems during public speaking. It has brought up several debates saying that the press conferences are mandatory to all athletes and one shouldn't be treated differently. The top players are expected to handle pressure and the media questions. Mental health is important to each individual but when it interferes with the routine of the tournaments then it affects the sport. The press conferences are important as it handles important coverage of the athlete as well as covers the tournament. Physical injuries are usually handled as the player pulls out of the tournament, the same question arises in the mental health. If a person is not mentally fit that can also mean withdrawal as it would be beneficial for the organisers and the journalists as they can do their jobs smoothly.

Fame does bring a lot of emotional baggage but as their rankings and performances improve it attracts a lot of money and attraction for all the tournaments. Actions like these can affect the reputation and can bring down the money that can be earned as controversies slow down the earning of the tournament, which in turn affect many other individuals who are directly and indirectly  working for the sport. At present, a world class athlete has to be careful of his/her actions as it impacts every aspect of his/her life more than their sports career. Many athletes had an unexpected halt in their careers because of their actions outside the sporting arena like it affects the sponsorship image and damages the sport’s reputation. They need to well prepared mentally to handle all this during their career as the responsibilities have increased over the years, media attention is always onto them and streamed by billions of hardcore fans over the world. Finally it is upto the athletes how to handles one's own fears and handle the consequences themselves.