Naomi Osaka was brought to tears when a heckler shouted at her during a Saturday tennis match at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California, The Washington Post reports.
During her tennis match against Veronika Kudermetova, which she ended up losing, a woman shouted to the Grand Slam champion, “Naomi, you suck!” TMZ reports.
The crowd came to the defense of Osaka and turned on the agitator, NBC News reports.
After her 6-0, 6-4 loss, the tennis pro spoke to the fans and thanked them in an emotional speech.
“To be honest, I’ve been heckled before. It didn’t really bother me. But heckled here, like, I’ve watched a video of Venus and Serena get heckled here, and if you’ve never watched it, you should watch it. I don’t know why, but it went into my head and got replayed a lot. I just wanted to say thank you and congratulations [to Kudermetova]. Thank you,” the 24-year-old said, according to The Washington Post.
Naomi Osaka asked for the microphone after her loss against Veronika Kudermetova. Here’s what she said. pic.twitter.com/0Pj9WnNe4t
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) March 13, 2022
Osaka has been transparent with her struggles as a professional tennis player and the pressure to perform at a high level.
“I feel like for me, recently, when I win, I don’t feel happy. I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad,” she said, NBC News reports.
Osaka withdrew from the French Open, citing mental health issues. She also decided not to participate in Wimbledon before jetting off to the Tokyo Olympic Games.