PARIS (Reuters) – Grand slam player news conferences have been under the spotlight after Naomi Osaka announced she would skip them at the French Open and organisers put the hammer down on a reporter for asking a question from a supermarket.
Japan’s Osaka, the world number two, withdrew from the tournament amid the row that erupted following her decision as she revealed she had been suffering from depression on Monday.
This year’s news conferences are being held digitally and most of the accredited reporters are not on site.
One of them, who is known for his left-field questions, said he was “actually at the supermarket” when he was given his chance to speak to German Zverev.
It was a step too far for organisers who told Reuters on Wednesday that the reporter’s credentials had been revoked for that reason.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
