Naomi Osaka said that she had been “casually disrespected” after a row developed during her Australian Open second-round match against Sorana Cirstea.
The initial spur for the disagreement came when Cistea was trailing 4-2 in the deciding set, and made a lengthy complaint to the chair umpire about Osaka saying “Come on!” to herself whenever Cirstea missed a first serve.
After a lengthy conversation with the official, Cirstea resumed play, only for Osaka’s self-encouragement to grow even louder. Then, as the pair walked to the net, the Romanian offered only the briefest of handshakes before telling Osaka: “You’ve been playing for so long and you have no idea what fair play is.”
Former Australian Open champion Osaka – who had claimed a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory – was clearly shaken by the outburst and brought it up in her on-court interview with former player Chandra Rubin. Asked what it had taken to get through the match, she replied: “Apparently a lot of c’mons that she was angry about, but whatever. She’s a great player. I think this was her last Australian Open, so... I’m sorry she was mad about it.”
Asked if the argument was about the “Come ons” between Cirstea’s serves, Osaka said: “I think so but like, she could’ve asked me. Like... bruh. I’m sorry.”
After the match, Cirstea – who is indeed appearing in her final Australian Open at the age of 35 – told reporters that she didn’t want to talk about the incident. “There was no drama. It was just a five-second exchange between two players that have been on a tour for a long time. It stays between us.”
During Osaka’s post-match press conference, she was asked whether she planned to discuss the matter with Cirstea. “If I’m being honest, I’ve never been involved in something like this before, so it’s like I don’t know if we’re supposed to leave it on the court and be like, ‘Hey, how you doing?’
“I’m a little confused. I guess that emotions were very high for her. I also want to apologise. I think the first couple things that I said on the court was disrespectful. I don’t like disrespecting people. That’s not what I do.
“So yeah, I mean, if she wants to talk about it, then yeah. But, like, when I’m pumping myself up, in my head I’m not like, ‘OK, now I’m going to distract the other person.’ It’s purely for me, so...”
Osaka was also asked whether she had deliberately raised her own volume after the initial objection from Cirstea. She replied: “Yeah, I’m not a person that reacts well to being casually disrespected. So yeah, I probably overdid it in the next couple of points. But it takes a lot out of me. I’m very tired now.”
Madison Keys speaks out against ‘divisiveness’ in Trump’s America
Madison Keys has spoken out against the “divisiveness” she sees in the United States under Donald Trump.
Talking after her 6-1, 7-5 victory over compatriot Ashlyn Krueger, the reigning Australian Open champion was asked about the US president’s second term and the state of the nation.
“I think my stance has been pretty obvious. I think it’s pretty obvious where I stand, and I am hopeful that we, as a country, can come together and get back to the values that I think make our country great,” she said.
“I am not a fan of divisiveness, and I think the beauty of the US is we are a mixing pot, we are very diverse, we are a home of immigrants. I hope that we can get back to those values.”
It is not the first time Keys has voiced her views on the Trump administration, previously telling The Guardian: “It’s definitely a tough time and it’s hard to balance where you want to be informed and know what’s going on but, at the same time, it’s crazy.
“Sometimes it’s hard to shut it off enough that you don’t pull your hair out, but also not being oblivious to what’s going on and the realities of everything. It’s definitely difficult at the moment.”
Several American players were asked about Trump’s second term in Melbourne, with Coco Gauff responding: “I hope [going] forward that we can have a lot more peace in our country and more kindness in the way we speak to each other about different topics and things like that.
“Obviously I’ve been pretty vocal about how I felt.
“At this point, I feel a bit fatigued talking about it just because of the fact that it is hard being a black woman in this country [the US] and having to experience things, even online, and seeing marginalised communities being affected… and knowing that I can only donate and speak out. I try my best to do that. But I hope that as time continues that we can reach a state that we’re not currently in, and we keep moving forward.”
Fellow US player Jessica Pegula, seeded sixth at the Australian Open, was asked a similar question this week, saying of the political climate: “That’s tough, because things definitely make their way around the world. And even me being in Australia, you hear about all these things going on back home.
“I just hope, you know, that we can come together at some point with, like, a good dialogue where things can actually get accomplished and things that we want to see accomplished and it not be so divisive, I guess.”