Naomi Osaka 'wants to bring about change' with French Open press boycott at Roland Garros, says coach

Naomi Osaka simply "wants to bring about change" with her controversial press boycott at Roland Garros, says her coach.

Osaka's Belgian coach Wim Fissette told German magazine Der Spiegel that she is just wanting to initiate change in a positive way in Paris.

The Japanese star, who defeated Patricia Tig in the first round on Sunday, has been warned that she faces a default from the French Open if she continues to shun her media obligations.

The world number two caused a storm on the eve of the tournament when revealing she would not attend any press conferences at Roland Garros on account of mental health concerns and Eurosport's Mats Wilander has been among those urging her to "reconsider or don't play" after her "bad move".

"Naomi has the opportunity to use her status to address problems and to initiate things," Fissette told Der Spiegel.

"In the United States, the subject is very topical at the moment, as athletes want more freedom in dealing with the press.

"So that they are simply not threatened right away with punishment if they don't feel well for a day."

Fissette was adamant that Osaka, who did conduct an on-court interview, "knows it's important to talk to the press" and is not boycotting conferences "for herself alone", but is "concerned with fundamental issues -- she wants to bring about change".

Her failure to attend saw the four Grand Slams - Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open - release a joint statement reminding Osaka of her obligations and warning her that she faced being expelled from the tournament.

The statement read: "Naomi Osaka announced last Wednesday on social media that she would not participate in the mandatory media interviews at Roland-Garros 2021. Following this announcement, the Roland-Garros teams asked her to reconsider her position and tried unsuccessfully to speak with her to check on her well-being, understand the specifics of her issue and what might be done to address it on site.

"Naomi Osaka today chose not to honour her contractual media obligations. The Roland-Garros referee has therefore issued her a $15,000 fine, in keeping with article III H. of the Code of Conduct.

"The mental health of players competing in our tournaments and on the Tours is of the utmost importance to the Grand Slams. We individually and collectively have significant resources dedicated to player well-being. In order to continue to improve however, we need engagement from the players to understand their perspective and find ways to improve their experiences. Every year we seek to deliver better experiences to our fans, our players and our people, and we have a long and successful track record in achievement on this count.

"A core element of the Grand Slam regulations is the responsibility of the players to engage with the media, whatever the result of their match, a responsibility which players take for the benefit of the sport, the fans and for themselves. These interactions allow both the players and the media to share their perspective and for the players to tell their story. The facilitation of media to a broad array of channels, both traditional and digital, is a major contributor to the development and growth of our sport and the fan base of individual players.

"We have advised Naomi Osaka that should she continue to ignore her media obligations during the tournament, she would be exposing herself to possible further Code of Conduct infringement consequences. As might be expected, repeat violations attract tougher sanctions including default from the tournament (Code of Conduct article III T.) and the trigger of a major offence investigation that could lead to more substantial fines and future Grand Slam suspensions (Code of Conduct article IV A.3.).

"We want to underline that rules are in place to ensure all players are treated exactly the same, no matter their stature, beliefs or achievement. As a sport there is nothing more important than ensuring no player has an unfair advantage over another, which unfortunately is the case in this situation if one player refuses to dedicate time to participate in media commitments while the others all honour their commitments.

"Finally, all Grand Slams remain committed to continually reviewing and discussing opportunities, together with the Tours and the players, to improve every aspect of the player experience, including with the media. But we consider this is only ever achieved through respectful and constructive discussions."

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Watch all the action from the 2021 French Open live on Eurosport, eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app with 13-time champion Rafael Nadal eyeing a remarkable 14th title at his favourite event and 2020 Roland Garros sensation Iga Swiatek aiming to replicate her stunning triumph.