Naomi Osaka brought to tears by heckler at US tournament
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Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka was brought to tears by a heckler Saturday on the way to a 6-0, 6-4 loss to Veronika Kudermetova in the Indian Wells WTA hardcourt tournament.
Naomi Osaka asking chair umpire if she can borrow umpires mic to talk to the woman in the crowd. And her convo with supervisor. Naomi was crying #IndianWells pic.twitter.com/lehS7qi8EZ
— NoFirstName claycourtdal (@samstennnis) March 13, 2022
Japan's Osaka, ranked 78th in the world after her third-round exit at the Australian Open, was rocked early in the first set when someone in the crowd yelled "Naomi, you suck."
She pulled herself together to continue, but while she finally seemed to find her range in the second set she couldn't find a way past Kudermetova.
https://twitter.com/jazdahubi/status/1502896692978364416
Speaking on court after the match, Osaka said the comment stuck in her head because it reminded her of Venus and Serena Williams being heckled at the tournament in 2001.