to the press after her own first-round match at Roland-Garros. “I feel like I wish I could give her a hug, because I know what it's like… Everyone is different, and everyone handles things differently. You just have to let her handle it the way she wants to and the best way that she thinks she can, and that's the only thing I can say, I think she's doing the best that she can.
Osaka’s ultimate decision to withdraw is a reclaiming of agency. After battling it out on the clay and exerting the power of her body to unrivaled degrees, the post-match press conference, according to Osaka, requires her to exert herself in evenways, placing a strain on all parts of her being. Fines and threats of expulsion are the ways in which the tennis system has tried to ensure that Osaka “fulfills” these obligations.
Good for her. Screw them.