The French Open is a famous tennis tournament, held every year in France. Naomi Osaka is a tennis player from Japan, she is ranked #2 in the world, and she won her first game of the tournament earlier this week.
Naomi Osaka didn’t go to a ‘press conference’ after her first tennis match, saying that she didn’t want to talk to the media. Players can be fined for not speaking to the media, and the French Open organisers fined Naomi Osaka $15,000 for not attending the press conference.
Naomi Osaka then decided to withdraw from the French Open. She said that if tennis players don’t want to talk to the media, they shouldn’t have to talk to the media. A lot of players have said they agree with her, and they want the rules to be changed. Naomi Osaka is sponsored by Nike, who said they also agree with her.
Key words:
Tennis tournament – A tennis competition.
Ranked – Your ranking, how good you are at a sport.
Press conference – A place where journalists/the media ask questions to famous people, sports people, or politicians.
Fined (verb) – The verb for having to pay a ‘fine’. (passive voice, be fined)
Organisers (noun) – People who organise something, i.e. a tennis tournament.
Attend – To go to something.
Withdraw from – To leave something.
Sponsored – Companies like Nike/Adidas give athletes ‘sponsorship’ if they wear the clothes from that company in tournaments that are on TV.
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