Leave Naomi Osaka alone
ROLAND GARROS — It is hard to know what Naomi Osaka did wrong: she went for dinner with some friends, she wore a nice dress at work, and she won a tennis match.
Yet the internet is filled with trolls calling her an attention-seeker, a segregationist and a twonk, among other things. Depressingly, this is nothing new for her to deal with.
Osaka did not back down on Thursday ahead of her second-round match though, walking out onto Simonne Mathieu in a new pre-match outfit, replacing the pleated, flowing full-length skirt and black, boned waistcoast of Tuesday with a slight less extravagant ivory train.
On both occasions, the skirts were removed before she took to the court in anger, and she played in the first and second round wearing a customised tennis dress covered in shimmering gold sequins.
It was spectacular on Tuesday and they were queuing up to see her again on Thursday, to bear witness to what she would wear next. Doubtless her third-round match against Iva Jovic on Saturday will be similarly packed with interested observers.
But there are trolls too, embarrassing themselves on social media by beating Osaka with any stick they can find, presumably born out of jealousy that someone they hate – for whatever reason, prejudiced or otherwise – is being lauded.
Years ago, a 21-year-old Osaka said she “didn’t really like attention”. Much water has flowed under the bridge since, but that did not stop it become a ”gotcha” moment for her detractors, despite the fact she is now 28, a mother and, as anyone who has spent time around her now, a very different person.
They conveniently ignored what she said last week: “I don’t talk a lot, so I can talk through my clothes. That means I can be as loud with colours or patterns or fabric as I want.”
And let’s face it, 21st century sport is about being loud. If no one is watching, there is no point.
Was Prince Naseem Hamed “attention-seeking” when he front-flipped over the ropes? Or Rafael Nadal when he sprinted to the back of the court before a match? Or NFL players when they arrive on the pitch through a cloud of smoke, flames and fireworks?
Osaka broke no rules either, although she admitted afterwards she did bring two normal Nike dresses with her in case the FFT took umbrage. She is used to being told she is in the wrong.
Even before she had walked out on Suzanne Lenglen, Osaka was under fire from all the worst sorts of people for holding a dinner party with other black players on tour, entitled in her Instagram post “The black party (RG edition)”.
She explained: “Growing up as a tennis player I didn’t see many people that looked like ME and I feel like it’s important to celebrate them.
“Secondly I feel like it’s important to note that there have been all white dinners/parties.
“I don’t know how else to tell you this, I literally seen them all the time and never had an issue with it at all. To the people who ask this question I want to ask you this question too, ‘What is it about POC getting together that unsettles you so much?’”
The most likely answer is that they feel inconceivably threatened by a young, black female standing up and celebrating who she is.
These are the same people who write in all caps “WHEN IS INTERNATIONAL MEN’S DAY?” or question why black history needs “a whole month.” They are invariably people who benefit from the inherent privileges that the status quo confers upon them.
And it should be noted that complaints in the tennis world have been limited to an out-of-context quote from her first-round opponent Laura Siegemund who said, when asked for the umpteenth time for a criticism of Osaka’s outfit, that she came to Roland Garros “to play tennis, and not to do a fashion show. And if others [want to] do a show, they should do it. That’s okay for me.”
Okay for me, too.
