Naomi Osaka at the 2021 US Open
Osaka left the court with teary eyes, losing 0-6, 4-6, against Veronika Kudermetova
Naomi Osaka’s comeback to the Indian Wells didn’t turn out to be a memorable one. The Japanese star had won her maiden title at the same event in 2018 but this time around things turned out to be different. Osaka was jeered in the early part of the match and it was undoubtedly a major factor in her straight-sets loss to Kudermetova.
During the match, Osaka complained to the chair umpire about verbal abuses from the spectators. While she was serving in the third game of the match, she was visibly crying. The comments from the audience clearly affected and she lost the first set without winning a game.
Despite the verbal abuses, Osaka stayed on the court and continued to play but just didn’t look in her zone. Kudermetova, who was playing under a neutral banner easily won the match in straight sets. Speaking after the match, a teary-eyed Osaka said, “I just wanted to say thank you, I feel like I cry enough on camera. To be honest I’ve been heckled before, it doesn’t really bother me. But being heckled here, I watched a video of Venus and Serena getting heckled here, if you’ve never watched it, you should watch it and I don’t know why but it got into my head and it got replayed a lot.” Osaka was referring to the incident when the Williams sisters had received racial abuses from the crowd at the same event. They had boycotted the tournament for 14 years as a result of it.
Naomi Osaka was on a three-month-long break from tennis citing mental health issues. She made a strong comeback to tennis this year, winning the very first tournament after her return – Melbourne Summer Set 2022. However, there has been a dip in form for Osaka since that title-winning campaign. She went into the Australian Open as the 13th seed but made an exit in the third round itself losing to Amanda Anisimova.
Fans and tennis followers across the world had high expectations from Osaka at the Indian Wells after it was announced that she has been given a wildcard entry. The Japanese star said before the tournament, it was a special return for her as she had won her maiden title at the same event in 2018. Osaka made a good start to the tournament beating the Guadalajara Open champion, Sloane Stephens in the first round. However, a second-round exit means another disappointing result for Osaka since her return to tennis.
Naomi Osaka is currently ranked 78th in the WTA rankings. The former World No. 1 faces a tough ask to resurrect her career and go back once again to the top of women’s tennis. Osaka is just 24 years old and with age on her side we can definitely hope, that sooner or later she will get back to the top – right where she belongs.
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