Naomi Osaka admitted her mistake of not congratulating Victoria Mboko in her on-court post-match interview, international media reported on Friday.
Wildcard teenager Mboko staged a brilliant comeback in Montreal to defeat four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, winning her first WTA Tour title at the Canadian Open on Thursday.
The 18-year-old Canadian endured a shaky start, dropping the opening set 2-6 as Osaka dominated the early exchanges.
Mboko fought back in the second set, finding her rhythm and eventually outclassing the Japanese star to seal a career-defining victory.
However, controversy arose following the trophy presentations when Naomi Osaka forgot to congratulate Victoria Mboko in her runner-up post-match speech.
An emotional Osaka kept her speech extremely short, not mentioning the great display of tennis from the Canadian teenager.
“I don’t really wanna take up too much time. I’ll just say thank you to everyone. Thank you to my team, the ball kids, organizers, & volunteers. I hope you guys had a good night," Osaka said.
After the speech, Osaka was heavily criticised by fans online after she omitted Mboko.
It did not take long for the Japanese tennis star to admit her mistake and respond to the criticism.
After Osaka did not hold a press conference, she issued her take on the controversy by providing written quotes to journalists, which included some words for Mboko.
"This morning, I was very grateful," she said.
"I don't know why my emotions slipped so quickly, but I'm really happy to have played the final.
"I think Victoria played really well. I completely forgot to congratulate her on court. Yeah, she did really amazing."