Naomi Osaka has received an outpouring of support from fellow tennis players and celebrities alike because of her decision to withdraw from the French Open to protect her mental health.

But now, Calm, the popular app that promotes mindfulness and meditation, announced its commitment to supporting Osaka’s stance by matching her fines and paying the fines of any player who opts out of required media obligations for mental health reasons during the 2021 Grand Slam season reports The New York Daily News.

Additionally, the company will also match the fine with a $15,000 donation to the French youth sports charity Laureus.

“Mental health is health,” the company declared on Twitter. “To support Naomi Osaka’s decision to prioritize her mental health, Calm is donating $15,000 to @LaureusSport in France, an organization doing incredible work in the mental health space to transform the lives of young people through the power of sport.”

"The truth is that I have suffered from long bouts of depression since the U.S. Open in 2018 and I have had a really hard time coping with that," she explained in a post on Instagram. 

"Though the tennis press has always been kind to me (and I wanna apologize especially to all the cool journalists who I may have hurt), I am not a natural public speaker and get huge waves of anxiety before I speak to the world's media. I get really nervous and find it stressful to always try to engage and give you the best answers I can,” she continued.

Across the professional sports landscape, athletes are required to meet with the media and if they decide not to, are subject to fines from the governing bodies of the respective sports.

As Blavity previously reported, for declining to participate in the required media interviews, the four-time Grand Slam winner was fined $15,000 before she decided to leave the tournament.

In response to Osaka, officials from the French Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open, and Australian Open pledged to cultivate a healthier environment that’s conducive for player’s mental well-being on and off the court.

The organizations made this pledge after doubling down on their code of conduct which states that players can accumulate for missing the requisite media appearances according to SB Nation. 

As a woman of color, Osaka’s stance is incredibly bold as the 23-year old is one of the most recognized faces of women’s tennis and in the prime of her career. But Osaka has challenged the sports world and the public, in general, to be serious about caring for mental health by using her celebrity status to draw attention to it.  

In an open display of solidarity, both Venus and Serena Williams have openly supported Osaka while others have deemed her decision as a “distraction” to the French Open.

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