Naomi Osaka celebrates winning against Patricia Maria Tig of Romania during their first round match at the French Open. EPA
Naomi Osaka celebrates winning against Patricia Maria Tig of Romania during their first round match at the French Open. EPA
Naomi Osaka shakes hands with Angelique Kerber of Germany after the women's singles match day one of the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis at Ariake Coliseum on September 18, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. Getty
Naomi Osaka shakes hands with Angelique Kerber of Germany after the women's singles match day one of the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis at Ariake Coliseum on September 18, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. Getty
Naomi Osaka in action against Zhu Lin of China in a round robin match during the WTA Rising Stars Invitational at OCBC Arena on October 24, 2015 in Singapore. Getty
Naomi Osaka in action against Zhu Lin of China in a round robin match during the WTA Rising Stars Invitational at OCBC Arena on October 24, 2015 in Singapore. Getty
Naomi Osaka shows appreciation to the crowd after winning her Women's Singles second round match against Saisai Zheng of China on day three of the 2020 Australian Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka shows appreciation to the crowd after winning her Women's Singles second round match against Saisai Zheng of China on day three of the 2020 Australian Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka poses for a photo with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup following victory in her Women's Singles Final match against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic at the 2019 Australian Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka poses for a photo with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup following victory in her Women's Singles Final match against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic at the 2019 Australian Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka hits a return during her Women's Singles Quarterfinals match against Zhang Shuai of China in the 2018 China Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka hits a return during her Women's Singles Quarterfinals match against Zhang Shuai of China in the 2018 China Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka celebrates beating Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine in the semifinals of the 2016 Toray Pan Pacific Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka celebrates beating Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine in the semifinals of the 2016 Toray Pan Pacific Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka holds the winners trophy after defeating Caroline Garcia of France during the 2015 WTA Rising Stars Final at Singapore Sports Hub. Getty
Naomi Osaka holds the winners trophy after defeating Caroline Garcia of France during the 2015 WTA Rising Stars Final at Singapore Sports Hub. Getty
Naomi Osakasigns autographs for fans after winning her Women's Singles second round match against Saisai Zheng of China at the 2020 Australian Open. Getty
Naomi Osakasigns autographs for fans after winning her Women's Singles second round match against Saisai Zheng of China at the 2020 Australian Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka poses with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after winning the 2019 Australian Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka poses with the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup after winning the 2019 Australian Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka poses for photographs after beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka poses for photographs after beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open. Getty
Naomi Osaka celebrates during a Ladies Singles second round match against Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic at the 2017 Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships. Getty
Naomi Osaka celebrates during a Ladies Singles second round match against Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic at the 2017 Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships. Getty

Tennis

Naomi Osaka withdraws from French Open over media boycott controversy

World No 2 says decision 'best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being'

The National

May 31, 2021

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World No 2 Naomi Osaka shocked the tennis world on Monday after withdrawing from the French Open following the fall-out from her decision to boycott all media activities.

"The best thing for the tournament, the other players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris," Osaka announced on Twitter.

Osaka won her opening match of the major against Patricia Maria Tig on Sunday but her decision not to take part in press conferences was the main talking point.

Osaka was fined $15,000 by organisers with the four grand slams reacting strongly, threatening her with potential disqualification and a ban from future tournaments should she not reconsider.

The tennis star said she had suffered bouts of depression after winning her first slam title at the US Open in 2018 and added talking to the media triggered her anxiety.

"I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer," she stated on Twitter. "More importantly, I would never trivialise mental health or use the term lightly.

"The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that.

"Anyone that knows me knows I'm introverted, and anyone that has seen me at the tournaments will notice that I'm often wearing headphones as that helps dull my social anxiety.

"Though the tennis press has always been kind to me, and I wanna apologise especially to all the cool journalists who I may have hurt, I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world's media."

The French Tennis Federation (FFT) termed her withdrawal unfortunate.

"We are sorry and sad for Naomi Osaka...We wish her the best and quickest possible recovery, and we look forward to having Naomi at our tournament next year," FFT president Gilles Moretton said in a statement.

The Women's Tennis Association said mental health was a priority for the organisation. "We remain here to support and assist Naomi in any way possible and we hope to see her back on the court soon," it added in a statement.

Sofia Kenin said dealing with tennis media's demands was not easy but it is what players signed up for.

"There's expectations from the outside, sponsors and everyone. You just have to somehow manage it. You have to have a good team around you who support you," the American said.

On Women's Day

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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