Naomi Osaka’s sponsors are standing by her.
Sports apparel giant Nike, which signed a sponsorship deal with Osaka in 2019, commended the 23-year-old tennis star for opening up about her struggles with depression after she dropped out of the French Open.
“Our thoughts are with Naomi. We support her and recognize her courage in sharing her own mental health experience,” Nike said in a statement.
Osaka dropped out of the Grand Slam event after she was fined $15,000 for not speaking to the media following her first round match on Sunday.
“Hey everyone, this isn’t a situation I ever imagined or intended when I posted a few days ago. I think now the best thing for the tournament, the others players and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris,” Osaka wrote Monday on Twitter. “I never wanted to be a distraction and I accept that my timing was not ideal and my message could have been clearer.
“More importantly I would never trivialize mental health or use the term lightly. The truth is that I have suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in
