INDIAN WELLS
The Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka was eliminated this Saturday in the second round of Indian Wells against the Russian Veronika Kudermetova in a match where she broke down in tears during and after the game after being insulted from the stands.
“Naomi, you suck”, was heard from the public of the center court of Indian Wells (California) when only four minutes of the game had been played and he was losing by three games to nil.
Osaka, who has had to take breaks in her career due to her anxiety and depression problems, approached to ask the judge to take action.
On one of the breaks, her emotions boiled over and she broke down in tears in her chair.
WTA Supervisor Clare Wood came over to speak to the player, who returned to the court totally unconcentrated and finished the set with a 6-0 against.
The crowd at Center Court in Indian Wells, California she tried to cheer the former world number one up with cheers of support after each point.
After talking to the officer again, Osaka returned for the second heat, in which she offered battle until Kudermetova he broke his serve in the seventh game, putting his victory on track.
As usual in the tournament, the winner of the game addressed a few words to the fans.
I want to say that it was a very tough match for me because she is a great player and a great fighter,” Kudermetova admitted to her rival.
Then Osaka also asked for the floor to congratulate her rival but also to explain why he got mentally blocked during the game.
To be honest, I feel like I’ve been booed here before and it hasn’t bothered me,” she recalled. “But I’ve seen video of Venus and Serena (Williams) being booed here. If you’ve never seen it, you should.”
I don’t know why, but it got into my head and it was repeated a lot,” said the tennis player, who could barely speak.
– The harassment of the Williams –
Serena and Venus Williams, great stars of American women’s tennis, refused to play in Indian Wells for 14 years due to incidents in the 2001 edition.
Venus withdrew from the semi-final match against her sister with a knee injury. The next day, Serena faced Kim Clijsters in the finale, and when Venus and her father, Richard Williams, took their seats, they were booed by part of the audience.
The harassment continued after Serena won and went to hug Venus and Richard Williams at the foot of the track.who said he was subjected to racist insults.
Osaka, winner of four Grand Slam tournaments, is one of the most high-profile figures to have brought to the fore mental health issues among elite athletes.
Last year, when retiring during Roland Garros, the Japanese revealed that she had suffered several episodes of depression and anxiety during her career.
He subsequently resigned from competing at Wimbledon amid controversy over his refusal to participate in press conferences, which cost him a fine at Roland Garros.
After he prematurely bid farewell to the Tokyo Games, in which she was chosen to light the Olympic cauldron, and the US Open, when she took a break from tennis until the start of this season.
Osaka has fallen to 78th in the WTA ranking and in Indian Wells she was competing by invitation.
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