Serena Williams offered her support to
Naomi Osaka on Monday (May 31) after the Japanese player’s decision to withdraw
from the French Open in the wake of her boycott of press conferences.
In a statement on Monday, Osaka said she
did not want her stance to become a distraction and said that she had been
dealing with mental health issues since 2018.
Williams, 39, was inevitably asked for her
reaction to Osaka’s decision following her first-round win over Romanian
Irina-Camelia Begu. “Honestly I just found out before I walked into the press
conference, so that’s the extent of it right now for me,” Williams told
reporters.
Pushed for her opinion on Osaka’s claim
last week that post-match media conferences were damaging her mental wellbeing,
and Monday’s unexpected development, Williams said: “The only thing I feel is
that I feel for Naomi. I feel like I wish I could give her a hug because I know
what it’s like. Like I said, I’ve been in those positions. We have different
personalities, and people are different. Not everyone is the same. I’m thick
(skinned). Other people are thin. Everyone is different and everyone handles
things differently.
“You just have to let her handle it the way
she wants to, in the best way she thinks she can, and that`s the only thing I
can say. I think she`s doing the best that she can.”
Williams said it was important for players
to have someone to use as a ‘sounding board’ in tough times. “You have to be
able to make an effort and say, I need help with A, B, C, and D, and talk to
someone,” she said.
“Whether it`s someone at the WTA or whether
it’s someone in your life. Maybe it’s someone that you just talk to on a weekly
basis. I’ve been in that position, too. I’ve definitely had opportunities to
talk to people, kind of get things off my chest that I can`t necessarily talk
to anyone in my family or anyone that I know.”
Survives scare in first night match at
Roland Garros
Serena Williams survived a scare in the
first ever night session match at the French Open as she edged out Romanian
Irina-Camelia Begu 7-6 (6), 6-2 in the first round on Monday.
Organisers have introduced night matches
under the Philippe Chatrier Court lights this year to provide some late drama
for the fans but the match was played in an empty stadium because of a COVID-19
curfew in the French capital.
The flat atmosphere hardly helped the
39-year-old Williams who squandered a 5-2 lead in the first set against a
tricky opponent who battled back to move into a tiebreaker.
Begu then led 6-4 and Williams got lucky
with a return that clipped the tape, before rattling off four points to win the
opener with a drive volley she celebrated with a roar that echoed around the
empty stands.
Three-time Roland Garros champion Williams,
who has been stuck on 23 Grand Slam titles, one behind Margaret Court`s
all-time record, was far more assured in the second set and managed to claim
the victory without further fuss.
Williams has been agonisingly close to
matching Court’s record since winning the 2017 Australian Open in her last
Grand Slam event before becoming a mother. She has fallen in four Grand Slam
finals and earlier this year lost in the semi-finals at the Australian Open.