Japanese Naomi Osaka qualified for the second round of the Pan Pacific Women's Tennis Championship, in Japan, after defeating Italian Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 7-6, today, Tuesday.
Osaka, seeded seventh in the 500-point tournament, avenged her loss to Paolini at the Miami Open, the only other match between them.
Osaka, winner of four Grand Slam titles, has been performing strongly since her return to competition, after giving birth to her daughter, Shay, three years ago.
But Osaka said this week that she would step away from tennis if her daughter, Shay, asked to do so.
Elena Rybakina, ranked first in the tournament and number one in the world, will not participate in the first round.
In the rest of the matches, Maya Joynt defeated Sorana Cristea 6-3, 7-6, Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Ann Lee 6-4, 6-4, Yulia Putnitseva defeated Maria Sakkari 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, and Christian Busca defeated Diane Perry 7-5, 6-1.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich also defeated Nikola Bartonkova 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, Leila Fernandez defeated Himeno Sakatsumi 6-2, 6-4, and Mia Bukhankova defeated Teresa Valentova 6-1, 6-4.
Frenchman Terrence Attman's admission that he suffers from mental health issues after a tantrum during the Shanghai Masters this month has highlighted the pressures faced by low-ranked tennis players as another difficult season draws to a close.
Attman threw his racket into the stands and nearly hit a fan in a qualifying match, before publicly apologizing for his behavior and detailing the psychological pressure resulting from his sharp drop in ranking to the edge of the top 100.
The final weeks of a grueling 11-month season can be particularly difficult for low-ranked players, as fatigue and poor results coincide with the pressures of competing for ranking points and prize money that could change their future.
Atman said at the Almaty Open Championship last week, where his arrival to the 8th round helped him advance to 90th place in the rankings: “I received a lot of hate, which is very normal because I deserve it. “My behavior was very bad.”
He added: “I was suffering, the season was very long. “I was having problems with my mental health, so it wasn't easy, but I was trying to start over.”
Former player and sports psychologist Jeff Greenwald said: “A long season can cause players to become tired, lose mental alertness, think negatively, or react emotionally, with players in lower-ranked positions facing a particularly difficult psychological and financial equation.”
He added to Reuters: “Unlike well-known players who may have an entire team managing their schedules, travel, training arrangements, and other logistical matters, low-ranking players often receive limited support.”
He continued: “The financial pressure could be enormous. Their resources are limited and they may feel that they only have a specific period of time to reap the benefits of their investments in professional tennis. Each tournament represents an opportunity to earn points, improve their ranking and potentially qualify for more profitable tournaments.”
He continued: “This creates a vicious circle.” A player may be exhausted, suffering from a lack of confidence, or showing signs of fatigue, yet he feels compelled to participate in another tournament because taking a break seems fraught with financial and professional risks.”
Atman is not alone. His compatriot, Giovanni Mbechi Bricard, spoke about depression and fatigue, and said that he traveled to North America after the “Wimbledon Championship,” even though he did not feel mentally prepared to compete.
Indian player Sumit Nagal, ranked 269, also suffered from a difficult period during which he played many tournaments this year without being fully fit, before shifting his focus towards enjoying the game instead of seeking results.
As for the women's competition, German Eva Liss ended her season early to focus on her physical and psychological health.
The Professional Tennis Players Association has proposed changes starting in 2028 that would reshape the men's tournament schedule and classification to reduce the incentive to play excessively, while allocating a $25 million fund at the end of the year to enhance financial support for players who finish the season in the top 250.
Although these plans may alleviate the pressure on players, Greenwald said: “Recovery is still an underappreciated part of professional tennis and should be viewed as a vital component of maintaining performance throughout the season.”
He added: “Pressure often goes beyond mere physical and mental exhaustion, as a long series of disappointing results may lead to the erosion of confidence when the player’s sense of self-confidence becomes closely linked to winning and losing.”
Greenwald continued: “Tennis players’ thinking can become very extreme; They either win or lose. They either succeed or fail. “As losses pile up, they may begin to doubt not only their performance, but also themselves.”
One way to protect players' confidence is to shift the criterion of success toward aspects of performance that they can control.
Greenwald continued: “Instead of measuring success exclusively through victories, defeats, rankings or financial prizes, we focus on their commitment to developing their playing style.”
“This shifts their attention from outcomes they cannot fully control to behaviors they can influence,” he added. “It also allows them to build a more stable sense of confidence based on mastery and commitment rather than the result of the last match they played.”
Chinese state television has stopped broadcasting all matches and events related to the Spanish and French leagues, Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe, and has also removed advertisements in which the player appears, against the backdrop of controversy sparked by comments attributed to him about the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, according to what was reported by the state-backed Chinese newspaper The Paper.
These developments coincided with a number of Chinese brands announcing the end of their cooperation with Mbappe, in an escalation that threatens his commercial relations in one of the important markets for international stars, after statements attributed to him sparked angry reactions in media circles and among Internet users in China.
The crisis began after a video clip spread online on Monday, in which Mbappé was heard talking about the funniest sarcastic picture he had seen of himself, explaining that his face was superimposed on the image of a person he thought was a Chinese dictator. Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the video, but it is believed that the conversation refers to a picture in which the French player’s face appears superimposed on a picture of Mao Zedong.
Mocking Mao, who ruled China from 1949 until his death in 1976, is a socially sensitive topic in the country, which was reflected in the reactions to the incident.
The state-run China Daily newspaper reported that the comments sparked anger among Mbappe's Chinese fans and threatened his business relationships, considering them a reminder of the limits of celebrity influence. Chinese media also criticized the statements attributed to him, as the Global Times newspaper said that many Chinese prefer not to repeat what was said, adding that respecting Chinese consumers is not optional.
The Mengniu Dairy Company, Shanghai Milkground Food Tech, and Eastrock Beverage Company announced the cessation of all forms of cooperation with Mbappe with immediate effect, stressing their rejection of any words or actions that offend the feelings of the Chinese people.
On the other hand, Javier Tebas, President of the Spanish League, apologized via the “X” platform for the statements attributed to the player, expressing the league’s regret for the discontent and abuse they caused in China. He said that the association is working directly with its partners and concerned parties there to overcome the crisis, noting that a relationship built over many years should not be harmed by a single incident.
Real Madrid did not comment on the incident, while representatives of Mbappe and the Spanish League did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The repercussions of the crisis extended to public discussion on Chinese social media platforms, as four topics related to Mbappe remained among the ten most searched topics on the Weibo platform, until seven in the morning GMT. Some users called for the player to be blacklisted and his commercial value reduced, in comments that received hundreds of likes.
Mbappe has commercial partnerships with international brands, including the “On” sportswear company, the “Accor” hotel chain, and the Danish “Lego” company. The latter said that it could not comment on the incident, while the player’s set of cubes remained displayed on its Chinese website, and the companies “On” and “Accor” did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The trend of satirical photos in which Mbappe's face appears superimposed on photos of political and military leaders has previously sparked controversy, as the player said in an interview with the newspaper "L'Equipe" last month that some of these photos may be an innocent joke, but he considered that the photos that depict him in the form of a dictator reflect a lack of political and humanitarian awareness.
For his part, a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, in response to a question about the incident, that words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will face joint opposition from various sectors of society.
