Tennis: Naomi Osaka dropped at tears by heckler in ugly incident at Indian Wells

Naomi Osaka has been dropped at tears by a heckler in an unpleasant incident throughout her second spherical match towards Veronika Kudermetova at Indian Wells.

The Japanese star stopped play throughout the second sport of the primary set to method the chair umpire asking them to do one thing about an individual who was shouting at her.

A number of reviews point out the individual screamed out “Naomi, you suck”. The umpire mentioned nothing may very well be achieved as a result of she did not know who the perpetrator within the crowd was.

Tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg tweeted: “Tough, unusual scenes on Indian Wells Stadium.

“Confirmed from a pair those that the lady within the stadium shouted “Naomi, you suck!”, not one thing directed at Kudermetova (or Russia) in any case.

“Osaka significantly rattled by it, there’s an official out speaking to her on this changeover as she’s down 0-3.”

A clearly rattled Osaka was in tears as she ready to serve her subsequent sport and proceeded to lose the primary set 6-0.

She then spoke to the court docket supervisor and whereas most of their dialog was inaudible on the published, the supervisor instructed the umpire: “If it occurs once more, we’ll discover him.”

Osaka performed on and lifted her stage in a high-quality second set however Kudermetova, probably the most in-form gamers of the season, closed out the set 6-4 to seal victory.

Osaka congratulated the Russian and remarkably addressed the group on court docket after the match.

An emotional Osaka defined the heckling introduced again recollections of the notorious incident at Indian Wells in 2001 when Serena Williams was booed throughout a match.

The ugly episode concerned accusations of racism and allegations Williams’ father Richard fastened the outcomes of matches between Serena and Venus Williams.

The 2 sisters subsequently boycotted Indian Wells for 14 years till Serena returned to the occasion in 2015.

Osaka instructed the group: “You must watch the video (of the Serena Williams incident).”

The four-time grand slam champion has been open about her battles with “lengthy bouts of melancholy”, which she mentioned began on the US Open in 2018, when she defeated Serena Williams within the remaining.

Osaka pulled out of final yr’s French Open over her resolution to boycott media press conferences. She additionally missed final yr’s Wimbledon however has since returned to the tour.