‘You suck’ – Naomi Osaka thrashed then breaks down after crowd abuse

Naomi Osaka had to deal with a red hot opponent and a less than friendly crowd as she tumbled out of Indian Wells 

Naomi Osaka has added to her list of difficult ‘non tennis’ moments in her tennis career after succumbing to an inspired opponent, an unhappy spectator and a teary press conference as she exited early at her latest comeback tournament.

Osaka was beaten 6-0, 6-4 by 21st seeded Veronika Kudermetova but it was an incident in the opening game that has hit the headlines after a spectator in one of the many suites shouted ‘Naomi, you suck’. Osaka wanted to address the crowd during the match itself but was denied by the umpire so after that match she used her on court press conference to say,

“I just wanted to say thank you. I feel like I cried enough on camera. To be honest, I’ve gotten heckled before and it didn’t really bother me. But heckled here…I’ve watched a video of Serena and Venus getting heckled here and if you’ve never watched it you should watch. I don’t know why but it went into my head and got replayed a lot. I’m trying not to cry but, I just wanted to say thank you and congratulations [Veronika]. Thank you.”

Osaka has a well documented history of struggling with mental health including a withdrawal from the French Open.

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