The leaders of tennis' four grand slam events have commended Naomi Osaka for opening up about her mental health problems and have vowed to put players' wellbeing first.
Osaka pulled out of the French Open on Monday, a day after organisers fined the four-time grand slam winner and threatened her with more severe sanctions for refusing to attend mandatory media conferences.
The world number two said in a statement posted on social media that she has had "long bouts of depression" since winning the US Open in 2018 and never intended for her stance to become a distraction.
Osaka also indicated that she was willing to work closely with tour officials "to discuss ways we can make things better for the players, press and fans."
Amid criticism for the way in which they have handled the matter, those in charge of the French Open, Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open have now softened their stance.
A joint statement on Tuesday from French tennis federation president Gilles Moretton, All England Club chairman Ian Hewitt, U.S. Tennis Association president Mike McNulty and Tennis Australia president Jayne Hrdlicka read: "On behalf of the Grand Slams, we wish to offer Naomi Osaka our support and assistance in any way possible as she takes time away from the court.
"She is an exceptional athlete and we look forward to her return as soon as she deems appropriate. Mental health is a very challenging issue, which deserves our utmost attention.
"It is both complex and personal, as what affects one individual does not necessarily affect another.
"We commend Naomi for sharing in her own words the pressures and anxieties she is feeling and we empathise with the unique pressures tennis players may face.
"While players' wellbeing has always been a priority to the Grand Slams, our intention, together with the WTA, the ATP and the ITF, is to advance mental health and wellbeing through further actions.
"Together as a community we will continue to improve the player experience at our tournaments, including as it relates to media.
"Change should come through the lens of maintaining a fair playing field, regardless of ranking or status. Sport requires rules and regulations to ensure that no player has an unfair advantage over another.
"We intend to work alongside the players, the tours, the media and the broader tennis community to create meaningful improvements. As Grand Slams, we aim to create the stage for the players to achieve the highest accolades in our sport."
Osaka's shock withdrawal generated an outpouring of support across the tennis world and beyond, with the likes of Serena Williams, Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova backing the 23-year-old's stance.
Gael Monfils also chipped in on Tuesday, the top-ranked French men's player pointing out that it is difficult to judge Osaka's situation from the outside.
"We need Naomi. We need her definitely to be 100 per cent," he said following his win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
"We need her back on the court, back on the press conference, and back happy. You know, that's what we need.
"What she's dealing with is tough for me to even judge, because I think she has massive pressure from many things.
"I think she's quite young. She's handling it quite well. Sometimes we want maybe too much from her, and then how she says maybe she can't manage it that well, so sometimes for sure she's going to make some mistakes.
"But I give her always the chance because she's a champion, she's quite young, she has a huge influence. I think she needs to take some time for herself to work on herself, feel better."
Sinner recovers to beat Moutet with classy performance
Jannik Sinner recovered from one set down to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Sunday, putting away home favourite Corentin Moutet with a classy display.
A huge upset looked possible when Moutet took the first set and broke early in the second, but Sinner fought back to post a deeply impressive 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-1 victory.
Sinner seemed to be caught off-guard by Moutet in the opener, the French showman sinking a series of delicious drop shots with the world number two on his heels.
Moutet carried that momentum into the second set, breaking straight away with his first four winners all being drop shots, yet Sinner soon learned, getting to the net well as he immediately broke back.
That was a theme of the contest from then on, with Sinner making few mistakes with his approach play and dispatching a series of volleys at the net as he took the second set.
Early in the third, it was the Italian pulling out the party tricks as he broke twice more en route to going a set up, much to the annoyance of a raucous crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Moutet threw his racket down after seeing his serve broken again in the first game of the fourth set, and then attempted – in vain – to snap his racket when Sinner converted at the end of a long rally to make it a double break, his outing ending in frustration.
Data Debrief: All-rounder Sinner in great company
Sinner has become just the third male player since the year 2000 to reach multiple grand slam quarter-finals on every surface before turning 23, after Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
He will face Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals after the 10th seed overcame world number eight Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets on Sunday.
'Belief more important than match sharpness', Alcaraz insists after reaching Roland-Garros quarter-finals
Carlos Alcaraz insisted believing in himself is more important than match sharpness, after booking his place in the French Open quarter-finals.
The 21-year-old is through to the last eight at Roland-Garros for the third year running - the youngest player to achieve the feat since Novak Djokovic (2006 to 2008) - after a dominant 6-3 6-3 6-1 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Although one of the favourites to go all the way in Paris, Alcaraz's preparations for the clay-court major were hampered by an injury to his right forearm.
The Spaniard was forced to withdraw from the Barcelona Open and Italian Open, while his fitness struggles were evident when Andrey Rublev beat him in the Madrid Open quarter-finals.
But Alcaraz, who continues to wear a supportive grip on his right arm, has not appeared too affected so far this fortnight, and seems to be going from strength to strength.
"The most important thing is to believe in myself," he said after beating Auger-Aliassime. "It doesn't matter that I don't have too many matches on my back and that I didn't come with a lot of rhythm.
"After every practice and every match, I was getting better and better and that was easy for me. On Phillipe Chatrier, it is easy for me to play.
"I had to put as much effort in as I could. I felt strong in the rallies, and I was going to have my chances to break his serve and the good intensity in the match helped a lot. If I made him feel in trouble on his serve, I knew I was going to have a lot of chances.
"I'm really happy with my performance today. I played a really high level of tennis. I know that Felix [Auger-Aliassime] is a great player. We were both playing great tennis today, but really happy to get that win in the end."
Next up is a mouth-watering quarter-final showdown with 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas for a second straight year at Roland-Garros, with Alcaraz eyeing his sixth victory from six meetings between the players.
"I love this challenge and these kinds of matches," he added. "I have seen a lot Stefanos' matches lately. He has a lot of confidence right now and is playing great tennis.
"I think I have the key against him, so I will try to make him in trouble. I will try to show my best and, hopefully, the crowd will enjoy as much as me."
'It's not healthy' – Gauff warns tennis over late finishes after Djokovic thriller
Coco Gauff warned tennis must do more to protect player welfare after Novak Djokovic's remarkable late finish at the French Open on Saturday.
Djokovic edged a five-set thriller with Lorenzo Musetti, battling into the early hours of Sunday in Paris at Roland-Garros.
The third-round marathon finished at 3:08 a.m. local time in the French capital, shattering the tournament's previous latest finish of 1:25 a.m.
After overcoming Elisabetta Cocciaretto to reach the quarter-finals, Gauff lamented the late start times and the problems it could cause for both men and women's players.
"I feel like a lot of times people think you're done, but really at 3 a.m. [you're] probably not going to bed until 5 a.m. at the earliest, maybe 6 a.m. or 7 a.m.," said 2023 US Open women's champion Gauff.
"I definitely think it's not healthy.
"For the health and safety of the players, it would be in the sport's best interest to try to avoid those matches finishing or starting after a certain time."
The ATP and WTA tours brought a new ruling in January that matches cannot start after 11 pm local time.
That legislation does not apply to the four majors, though, and hits harder for the men playing best-of-five encounters.
World number one Iga Swiatek, who overcame Anastasi Potapova on Sunday, echoed Gauff's sentiment.
"It's not easy to play and it's not like we're going to fall asleep one hour after the match," said Swiatek.
"[Change] is not up to us. We need to accept anything that is going to come to us."
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