AB GhaylaneNaomi Osaka was visibly agitated after being heckled during her Indian Wells loss to Veronika Kudermetova. While Rafael Nadal expressed regret for the 24-year-old, he also stated that heckling occurs in the real world, and athletes should expect it. Nadal won his 17th match in a row at Indian Wells, defeating Dan Evans.
In her opening round match, Osaka came back from a set down to overcome 2017 US Open champion and former world No 3 Sloane Stephens 3-6 6-1 6-2.
She was up for the challenge of facing 21st seed Kudermetova in round two, but she was forced to play through tears at the start of the match after a member of the audience yelled, “Naomi, you suck,” and the 24-year-old quickly faded away in the match after speaking with the umpire and an official about the incident.
She addressed the crowd before Kudermetova’s victory speech to explain what happened after losing 6-0 6-4, saying: “To be honest, I’ve been heckled before and pretended it didn’t hurt me. But, heckled here [Indian Wells], I’ve seen a video of Venus and Serena being heckled here, and you should watch it if you haven’t already.”
Serena, Venus, their father and coach Richard Williams were all booed during Serena’s final in 2001, prompting the sisters to boycott the tournament for 14 years “I’m not sure why, but it got stuck in my head and was played over and over again. I’m attempting to keep my tears from flowing. But I just wanted to express my gratitude and best wishes to (Kudermetova). Just Thank you”
