As an opponent of professional sport, I see the incident as confirming my views. Ms Osaka signed a contract, the terms of which she found herself either unwilling or unable to comply with. Thus she became liable for a penalty and was advised that further non-complance would result in further penalties. Therefore, after consideration, Ms Osaka, very properly, decided to terminate the contract as being one she found impossible to fulfil. Now one could quibble that the contract should have contained provisions on mental health just as it probably contained clauses covering phsysical illness or injury, but as a sufferer of anxiety and depression myself, I am fully aware that flare-ups are not always predictable - I have my bad days and my good days, too. That makes contractual provision for such things difficult - I could go on for hours about the problems caused at work by my condition!
However, if Ms Osaka had a proper job, and played tennis as an amateur, the problem would not arise. The amateur pays, via a club membership, for the right to take part in tournaments, and receives no remuneration for doing so. Hospitality may be provided by the competition organisers, as may prizes in cash or kind along with a trophy, the costs of which can be covered by ticket sales. But in that situation, the young lady would have had a perfect right to turn up, play her match, have a cup of tea and a bun, then go home without having to talk to the Press if she didn't want to. Because the amateur is a private individual, not a public figure, and as such is entitled to complete privacy.
Once, all sports were played that way. The curse of professional sport did not arise until the late 19th century in America (where else?), and has grown until people who play games now command seven-to-nine-figure salaries while teachers and nurses scrape by on pennies. Not only is this morally objectionable in and of itself, but it has also led to financial scandals, drug-taking and occasionally mass public disorder. Without professional sport, Hillsborough would never have happened! Not to mention extravagant prices for season tickets and the rip-off costs of poor-quality merchandise. Furthermore, the knock-on effect of professional sport has been the same as that of the mass media and professional entertainment in that the number of non-professionals taking part in these activities has declined greatly. The result being that for far too many, leisure is now a matter of passive observation rather than active participation.
