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Do we have a double standard for serena williams?

Ok... hear me out. I received a DM on Twitter the other day that asked me whether or not Serena did press after she pulled out of her first-round match by default. And to my surprise... she did not. I don't know if there is a rule that says you are exempt from doing a press conference after you default from a match, but not even a press conference?

I am not saying that she did something bad, but I am trying to put into perspective when players have to do press and when they don't. We all know about the Naomi Osaka situation that happened in Paris (if not, click here). Osaka chose to not do any press during the French Open because she felt like people asking her millions of questions, didn't benefit her mental health.


Talking about this topic makes me feel like we are going in circles about players' mental health. Just because an "injury" is not visible to the naked eye, does not mean we shouldn't take care of ourselves. Serena had a devastating exit from Wimbledon and immediately left the grounds. Just like Djokovic did when he hit the lines umpire at the US Open. So she definitely was fined a certain amount of money. But is she exempted from it because of the injury? I am not sure.


But if Serena didn't have to do press because of her injury, those who criticized Naomi Osaka for choosing to not do press should probably take a backseat and shut it. She doesn't deserve criticism

for trying to her heal her mental state.

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