Naomi Osaka says she will not speak to the press during the French Open, saying it harms her mental health

• Naomi Osaka said she will not speak to the press during the French Open.
• The tennis star cited the effect that press questions have on her mental health.
• She said that journalists' questions to athletes "bring doubt into our minds."

The tennis star Naomi Osaka has said that she will not speak to the media during the French Open because doing so harms her mental health.

She said in a statement posted Wednesday: "I'm writing this to say I'm not going to do any press during Roland Garros."

"I've often felt that people have no regard for athletes' mental health and this rings true whenever I see a press conference or partake in one."

She continued: "We're often sat there and asked questions that we've been asked multiple times before or asked questions that bring doubt into our minds and I'm just not going to subject myself to people that doubt me."

Read her full statement here:

She said she hopes the fines she receives for refusing to speak to media will "go towards a mental health charity."

Osaka will be the second seed heading into Roland Garros, behind only Australia's Ashleigh Barty. She comes into the tournament with the momentum of having won at tennis' last Grand Slam, the Australian Open, in February. Osaka beat America's Jennifer Brady in straight sets in the Melbourne final.

The 2021 French Open runs from Sunday May 30 until Sunday June 13.