Supermarket question row over as reporter reinstated

Grand slam player news conferences have been under the spotlight after Naomi Osaka announced she would skip them at the French Open and organisers put the hammer down on a reporter for asking a question from a supermarket before reinstating him after he apologised.

Japan’s Osaka, the world number two, withdrew from the tournament amid the row that erupted following her decision as she revealed on Monday that she had been suffering from depression.

This year’s news conferences are being held digitally and most of the accredited reporters are not on site.

One of them, who is known for his left-field questions, said he was “actually at the supermarket” when he was given his chance to speak to German Alexander Zverev.

It was a step too far for organisers who told Reuters on Wednesday that the reporter’s credentials had been revoked for that reason before saying he was getting his accreditation back after apologising.

Asked about the incident after his second-round match on Tuesday, Zverev said: “He is a very nice guy. I hope he gets his media pass back. I don’t want to be the reason why he lost his media pass.

“I think he did it more as a joke. But the other way around, I also do jokes sometimes that are taken the wrong way.”