Fine, but let’s be sensitive!

As a writer who has always campaigned for more press interactions elaborate press releases and greater respect for the media who are no matter how much some practitioners of sport donrsquot want to admit it vehicles of information to fans the first stage of the Naomi Osaka controversy amused me as much as the second part saddened meOsaka I thought deserved being fined 15000 for her refusal to address the media after her firstround win at the French Open on Sunday I viewed it at face value mdash yet another sportsperson who believed that the media is a devilish curse that must be avoidedItrsquos when she decided not to continue playing the French Open that I felt sympathetic towards her Here is someone who like most started playing sport for the love of it and now she is telling the world that shersquod rather deprive herself of that pleasure than face the mediaAs Monday wore on I started to see an Osaka with deep scars and wondered whether there was a better way to handle this problem Offer no comments to anything probing at the press conference I thought I remembered how some of my senior colleagues in the profession headed to Mumbai airport in the 1980s to interview Kapil Dev on one of the Indian cricket teamrsquos arrivals from a tournament in Sharjah All they got from the then India captain was ldquono commentrdquo to all their questionsHow about a statement from her before and after every match on five topics which would be touched upon in a normal scenario I ponderedSure it wonrsquot be fair to the other players if this is granted but there has to be some consideration for mental health issues Itrsquos something that the ATP and WTA should be concerned aboutOver the years there have been tennis players who struggled with media briefings or were graceful at them Rohit Brijnath the formidable Singaporebased writer of the Straits Times recalled to me how impressively Romaniarsquos Simona Halep handled her postmatch duties at the press conference following her third Grand Slam final loss to Denmarkrsquos Caroline Wozniacki in the 2018 Australian OpenThe first question by a reporter was as follows ldquoWe understand itrsquos difficult for you to come here after this defeat but we would like to know how you feel if itrsquos really depressing frustrating or you can still smilerdquoHalep replied ldquoI can still smile Itrsquos fine I cried but now Irsquom smiling Itrsquos just a tennis match in the end But yeah Irsquom really sad I couldnrsquot win it I was close again but the gas was over in the end She Wozniacki was better she was fresherrdquoBrijnath who has covered roughly 25 Grand Slam events since his Sportsworld magazine days in 1987 found the Halep interaction profound He told me ldquoFor me it was many things It showed her pain her honesty her perspective her classrdquoHemal Ashar this newspaperrsquos News Features Editor who covered Wimbledon in 1994 and 1996 recalled one conference involving Martina Navratilova ldquo lsquoMartina KD Lang has been spotted in the spectator stands while you playedrsquo Navratilova was asked Lang pop and country Grammywinning singer is gay The question about Lang could have been innocent or it may have had an implication but Navratilova fixed the journalist with a deadpan stare and said lsquoSooooo A friend cannot come and see you play a matchrsquo The silence broken by a few very few laughsrdquoTalking about Navratilova in her book Being Myself she admitted to missing just one press conference in her career and was not going to escape one after she was beaten by Pam Shriver in the quarterfinals of the 1982 US Open She answered all that was thrown at her including a question on how she felt about losing 500000 in the PlayTex Challenge awarded to those players who win the US Pro Indoors Family Circle Cup Wimbledon and US Open ldquoI can buy a lot of bras without the Playtex moneyrdquo she shot back It was at this press conference that Navratilova trying hard not to project it as an excuse for her loss to Shriver revealed that she was suffering from toxoplasmosis according to Wikipedia ldquoinfection usually occurs by eating undercooked contaminated meat exposure from infected cat faeces or mothertochild transmission during pregnancyrdquoThe media went to town saying that the tennis star was suffering from a cat virus when a hamburger could well have caused it Navratilova had to be coaxed into telling the world about her condition in that press conference by a friend but some players donrsquot have the luxury of counsel and sometimes they are too young to say the right things Her friend and great rival Chris Evert had to face the media at 16 during her debut US Open in 1971 In Chrissie she wrote ldquoI was out there alone and didnrsquot want to speak up and regret sounding foolish Once you are quoted in the newspapers on radio or television therersquos no way you can take back those wordsrdquoOsaka is out of the French Open but her decision to quit the competition could well have opened a new chapter in media relations in her sport Doubtless there will be reviews debates and the odd comment thrown in by tournament sponsors as Osaka attempts to put her sporting life in order While doing so she ought to remember her problem is not unique mdash although her actions aremiddayrsquos group sports editor Clayton Murzello is a purist with an open stance He tweets ClaytonMurzelloSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper