If You Encourage Behaviour, You'll Get More Of It...

Naomi Osaka's first press conference since her controversial decision at the French Open to refuse questions from reporters resulted in tears on Monday.

Well, you could knock me down with a feather! 

Osaka, who pulled out of the May competition after she was hit with fines for skipping mandatory post-match media briefings, began sobbing after she was asked 'a fairly aggressively toned question' about how she has benefitted greatly from media attention, while avoiding speaking to the press.

I'm sure his fellow journalists, with their famed integrity, will leap to his defence and the defence of their right to ask hard qu...

Oh. 

Tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg, who was also covering the press conference, tweeted that Daugherty, 'asked (Osaka) a fairly aggressively toned question about how she benefits from a high-media profile but doesn't like talking to media.

Rothenberg said the Women's Tennis Association paused the press conference, and later answered the final question.

He scolded Daughtery for asking Osaka a question, saying, 'the aggressive tone from an unfamiliar person, after Naomi had already spoken in an earlier answer about how that's what she finds difficult in press conferences, got things going completely awry.'

What, so she'd have answered that question if she'd recognised the reporter? Oh, please! 

Osaka's agent, Stuart Duguid, released a statement hitting out at Daugherty's question 'The bully at the Cincinnati Enquirer is the epitome of why player / media relations are so fraught right now. Everyone on that Zoom will agree that his tone was all wrong and his sole purpose was to intimidate. Really appalling behavior,'

Will they all agree? Really? 

'And this insinuation that Naomi owes her off court success to the media is a myth – don’t be so self-indulgent.'

Someone's being self-indulgent here all right. But I don't think it's the reporters...