The two young stars’ criticisms of police brutality after George Floyd’s killing were brave in a culture uneasy with black athletes speaking outA couple of weeks ago Naomi Osaka decided that it was time to eradicate her shyness once and for all. It was exhausting, she said, missing out on moments because she was too terrified to speak in the presence of people she admired. Her options for socialising limited in quarantine, she set up a series of interviews with players. Before long, fellow players Frances Tiafoe, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Gaël Monfils and Iga Swiatek were her subjects. “I’m coming for every tennis reporter’s neck,” she said.On Saturday afternoon Osaka’s new reporting skills were put to use on Instagram as a...
Few saw the parting coming but it demonstrates the impermanence of the player-coach relationship at the top of world tennisNaomi Osaka splitting with her coach, Sascha Bajin, after little more than a year and two grand slam triumphs together shocked many people in tennis but, if the world No 1 wants no more than to explore new strategies and schedules, it could lift her even further away from her rivals.They announced the divorce on Twitter on Monday and have issued no statements since. The Japanese media are speculating they started to grow apart towards the end of the Australian Open last month, claiming she did not agree with some of his ideas and even practised alone, but that did not...
The US Open winner has the tools to win repeatedly but Serena Williams’s example shows the hurdles that may lie in her wayYou can have different views about the merits of booing at a sporting event. For some it is one of the few tools available to make your displeasure known: you’ve paid the money, you have the choice to moan like a disgruntled cow should you wish. For others, a group that may be classified as “decent human beings”, it is a bit mean-spirited and should be saved for when you come across David Cameron in the street.Another thing about booing is that it is indiscriminate. However clear a motivation may be in the mind of the boo-er, by...