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Jonathan White

Naomi Osaka will not play in the Berlin WTA 5000 next week, it was confirmed on Monday, putting her appearance at Wimbledon and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games into severe doubt.
“We have received notification Naomi Osaka cannot start in Berlin. After consulting her management, she will take a break,” the Berlin tournament organisers said in a statement ahead of the tournament which begins on June 14.
The four-time slam winner has opted to sit out the German grass court tournament, which is a tune-up for Wimbledon, and it is unclear whether the break will end before SW19 or even the tennis tournament at the Summer Games.
Wimbledon starts on June 28, with the Olympics beginning less than a month later on July 23.

’1 pic.twitter.com/o0rO28g21Q
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) May 30, 2021

Osaka, who competes for Japan internationally, is expected to be at the Tokyo 2020 Games and the home fans will want her there.
The last word on the Games was back in April ahead of the Italian Open.
“Of course, I want the Olympics to happen, but I think there’s so much important stuff going on, especially the past year,” she said at a news conference.
Tennis and NBA stars back Naomi Osaka for French Open exit
“A lot of unexpected things have happened. For me, I feel like if it’s putting people at risk … then it definitely should be a discussion, which I think it is as of right now. At the end of the day I’m just an athlete, and there is a whole pandemic going on, so, yeah.”
Osaka has since pulled out of the French Open and made it clear why. Days after she said that she would not be doing press at Roland Garros and following a US$15,000 fine, the 23-year-old offered her resignation from the clay slam in Paris.

pic.twitter.com/LN2ANnoAYD
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) May 31, 2021

She has been away from the limelight since she won her first round match in Paris against Patricia Tig of Romania last week and subsequently left before the second round.
This past weekend she returned to social media for the first time to thank fans on Instagram.
“Just want to say thank you for all the love. Haven’t been on my phone much but I wanted to hop on here and tell you all that I really appreciate it,” Osaka wrote.
French Open: Osaka called their bluff, who will call the shots?
The Japanese Tennis Association has been supportive of Osaka’s decision to walk away from the French Open, as have sponsors and the public.
However, that support would be tested were she to steer clear of the Olympics – a Games that she is expected to be the face of, no less.
Osaka is not only a genuine medal hope for the hosts but she has been talked of as one of the country’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony on July 23. She is one of the most marketable athletes in the world and nowhere more so than Japan.
Naomi Osaka withdraws from French Open after row over media boycott
If her “break” includes Wimbledon that will increase media scrutiny on Osaka and her return – even if her stance ahead of the French Open was taken to decrease media pressure – but that would be nothing if she has not made an announcement on the Olympics.
One positive for the Tokyo 2020 Games is that athletes face less media obligations than in past Olympics because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the playbooks put in place to manage the impact of the virus.
As of now – with another playbook to come later this month – media are limited to 90-second interviews with athletes after events, among other restrictions.
Time will tell but everyone will want Osaka back from her break in time for Tokyo.


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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Will Naomi Osaka play in Tokyo 2020 Olympics? Berlin snub puts Wimbledon and Summer Games in doubt

Japan’s Naomi Osaka in her one and only match at the 2021 French Open. Photo: Reuters

Naomi Osaka can afford French Open fine more than Tokyo 2020 distraction

Japan’s Naomi Osaka pictured at the 2021 Italian Open. Photo: Reuters

Naomi Osaka of Japan walks in wearing a mask with the name of George Floyd on it before her Women's Singles quarter-finals match against Shelby Rogers of the United States on Day Nine of the 2020 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 8, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/TNS)

Tennis -WTA Premier 5 - Italian Open - Foro Italico, Rome, Italy - May 12, 2021 Japan’s Naomi Osaka looks dejected after losing her second round match against Jessica Pegula of U.S. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: 50 questions with 50 days to go

Is it safe for the Covid-19-postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to go ahead as planned with 50 days to the opening ceremony? Photo: Shutterstock

An ignition ceremony for the Tokyo Olympic torch relay is held at Heiwadai Athletic Stadium in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan, Tuesday, May 11, 2021. The torch relay was taken off public roads due to the coronavirus pandemic. The next week's torch relay is being pulled off the streets in Hiroshima prefecture, too, as COVID-19 cases rise in Japan. This is at least the sixth change to the relay - from rerouting to cancellation - in the last several weeks as cases surge in Japan. Organizers warned before the relay began that changes and delays were expected in the face of the pandemic. (Kyodo News via AP)

epa09222265 Protesters appeal to pedestrians during a demonstration against the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Shinjuku in Tokyo, Japan, 23 May 2021, two months before the opening of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad. After a three-day meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Summer Games, Tokyo 2020 Coordination Commission chair and IOC Vice President John Coates has said the Olympic Games can be held this summer even if Tokyo is under a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 coronavirus disease pandemic. More than 80 percent of Japanese people think to cancel or postpone the Tokyo Olympic Games according to an opinion poll by a Japanese TV in mid-May. EPA-EFE/KIMIMASA MAYAMA

CEO of the Tokyo 2020 Toshiro Muto, left, Chairman of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020 John Coates, (on screen) and President of the Tokyo 2020 Seiko Hashimoto, attend the Tokyo 2020 IOC Coordination Commission press conference on Friday, May 21, 2021 in Tokyo.(Nicolas Datiche/Pool Photo via AP)

(210528) -- MANILA, May 28, 2021 (Xinhua) -- Athletes wait to receive COVID-19 vaccines in Manila, the Philippines on May 28, 2021. Around 700 athletes including dozens of athletes who are qualified for the Tokyo Olympics and are about to participate in the Olympic trials, as well as those who will participate in this year's Southeast Asian Games were vaccinated. (Xinhua/Rouelle Umali)

Naomi Osaka: French Open, NBA stars back decision to pull out over mental health as world reacts

Naomi Osaka leaves the French Open after beating Patricia Maria Tig of Romania in the first round. Photo: EPA

Tennis star Naomi Osaka withdraws from French Open after row over media boycott

Japan's Naomi Osaka celebrates after winning her first-round match at the French Open on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Sport

Tennis

Asia


Japanese star skips German grass court event to put Wimbledon appearance in doubt ahead of June 28 start at SW19
Media pressure that saw 23-year-old walk away from French Open is not going to be any less for her home Olympics in July



Media pressure that saw 23-year-old Japanese star walk away from French Open is not going to be any less for Wimbledon or her home Olympics in July.


Naomi Osaka

Wimbledon

French Open