Naomi Osaka had to dig deep to reach the Australian Open third round, but did so with a hard-fought win over Sorana Cirstea.
However, the match was marred by a string of complaints from the Romanian, who seemed to take issue with her opponent’s self-promotion throughout.
Naomi Osaka, as most players on tour do, was regularly trying to keep her energy levels high with shouts of ‘come on’ and ‘let’s go’.
Alas, Cirstea took issue with this, complaining to anyone who would listen during the match, before voicing her displeasure at the net too.
Osaka did not hold back in her reply when asked about the incident in her on-court interview.
Every word of Naomi Osaka’s feisty on-court interview
The Japanese star began by trying to work out exactly what had frustrated her opponent so much.
She theorised: “Apparently a lot of come on’s that she was angry about.”
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The interviewer then explained that Cirstea was annoyed at Osaka supposedly talking in between her first and second serves, to which she replied: “I mean, I tried to play well. I think I hit a lot of unforced errors, but I tried my best. She’s a great player. I think this was her last Australian Open, so… sorry she was mad about it, but…”.
“I think so, but like she could have asked me, like, bro, I’m sorry.”
Osaka seemed emotional speaking about this conflict, but managed to explain what she was so pleased about in this battling win: “Honestly, just fighting as hard as I could. Yeah. Just fighting.”
Naomi Osaka responds when asked if she’ll be wearing another extravagant outfit
In an effort to diffuse any tension, the interviewer sought to turn attention to Osaka’s outfit from the first round.
After all, it has been the outstanding talking point of the Australian Open thus far, with some fans in the crowd even recreating it.
Happy to speak about it again, Osaka claimed: “Um, honestly, not really. For me, I don’t know, it’s just something fun I love to do on the court.
“I think I don’t really talk that much, but I like to express myself through clothes, and I’m really glad that you guys love it.
“Thank you for supporting me. I love you guys for real.
She added: “I think for me, you know, I grew up with Serena and Venus, Sharapova, Bethanie Mattek-Sands and for me, it’s a great honour if there’s a kid out there somewhere that comes, plays at this tournament and remembers me in a way, and I thank you guys for also relating to the outfits that I wear.
What do you think about Naomi Osaka’s Australian Open outfit?
“I love seeing the recreation, so thank you very much.”
Finally, she was asked if we could expect more extravagance as the event goes on. Naturally, Osaka kept her cards close to her chest, suggesting that she would give nothing away for the coming matches.
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