Indian Wells: Naomi Osaka in tears as tennis star heckled during 2nd-round defeat
Indian Wells 2022: In a repeat of the 2001 tournament where the Williams sisters were heckled by the crowd, Naomi Osaka was on the receiving end of a derogatory comment during her second-round defeat on Sunday.
In Short
- Noami Osaka was subject to a derogatory comment from a spectator
- Osaka was reduced to tears after the unruly comment
- Osaka, rattled by the incident, lost her 2nd-round match on Sunday
Tennis star Naomi Osaka was reduced to tears after a spectator passed a derogatory comment during her 2nd-round defeat at Indian Wells - BNP Paribas Open 2022 in California on Sunday. Osaka was rattled by the heckling from the crowd lost her match to Veronika Kudermetova 6-0, 6-4.
Osaka was trailing in the first set of her second-round match when a woman in the crowd shouted "You suck, Osaka". The tennis star stepped play and approached the chair umpire, asking something to be done. However, the organizers were not able to identify the person who made the unruly remark.
As the match progressed, Osaka walked up to the chair umpire again and requested him to use the microphone so that she could address the crowd. A supervisor came on court for a prolonged discussion with Osaka. The supervisor told the umpire “if it happens again, we're going to find him." Kudermetova waited behind the baseline for the match to resume, news agency AP reported.
However, following the early defeat on Sunday, Osaka addressed the crowd unable to control her emotions.
“To be honest, I’ve gotten heckled before, like it didn’t really bother me, but heckled here,” she said even as the crowd was trying to lift her spirits.
“I watched a video of Venus and Serena (Williams) getting heckled here, if you’ve never watched it you should watch it,” Osaka said. “I don’t know why, but it went into my head and it got replayed a lot. I’m trying not to cry.”
“I just wanted to say ‘Thank You.”
“I’ve gotten heckled before but heckled here, I watched a video of Venus and Serena getting heckled here. If you haven’t watched it, you should watch it.”
A tearful Naomi Osaka after a fool fan heckled her vs Veronika Kudermetova #BNPPO22 pic.twitter.com/NkM7MoRwD4 — Andrew Jones (@TWDTV1) March 13, 2022
Osaka has been open about her mental health struggles in the past but the Japanese star said she was in a good head space before she headed to the tournament. Osaka hadn't played a tournament since January when she lost in the round of 32 at the Australian Open.
Notably, the incident Osaka referred was in 2001 when Serena and Venus Williams were heckled by the Indian Wells crowd in 2001.
Venus withdrew, with a knee injury, from her scheduled semifinal against Serena shortly before it was to begin. When Venus and their father Richard took their seats to watch Serena in the final against Kim Clijsters, the crowd began booing. As the match went on, fans jeered Serena.
Their father said he was the target of racial slurs. The sisters boycotted the tournament for years before eventually returning.