‘Can Naomi Osaka not act like an adult for five minutes? – Ex-star on Victoria Mboko speech controversy
Two former American ATP stars have become the latest tennis figures to weigh in on Naomi Osaka’s speech after losing the Canadian Open final.
The four-time Grand Slam champion drew controversy after failing to mention Mboko in her brief speech during the trophy ceremony.
“Thanks, I guess. I don’t really want to take up too much time,” said a visibly emotional Osaka.
“So, I’ll just say thank you to everyone. Thank you to my team, thank you to the ball kids, thank you to the organisers, and all the volunteers. I hope you guys had a good night.”
The Japanese star later apologised to Mboko for forgetting to congratulate her.
“Thanks, Montreal, it’s been a really great run,” Osaka wrote in a post on Instagram Threads.
“I also want to say sorry and congratulations to Victoria. You played a great match and have an amazing career ahead! I realise I didn’t congratulate you on the court.
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“Honestly, I was in a daze and I was so focused on not having the same speech as IW 2018 finals or the Jenny/Jennifer situation that I tried to make my speech as short as possible. Thanks everyone for the week, see you in NY.”
Speaking on the Nothing Major podcast with fellow retired American star Steve Johnson, Sam Querrey did not hold back when discussing Osaka‘s speech.
“Can Osaka not just act like an adult for five minutes? Just give a nice speech, fake it for a minute and then move on to the locker room. It drives me nuts,” the former world No 11 said.
“She is also going to make $30 million, you can’t just shy away from that. Give a decent speech, congratulate your opponent.
“But having said that, great week for Osaka. She hasn’t been playing great there has been little signs here and there but to make a final, she can go to the US Open now and make a run to the semis, finals or maybe win it.”
Johnson agreed with Querrey, saying: “It drives me nuts too. Look, as athletes you take the good with the bad. You can’t just take praise when you are playing well.
“I get it’s a tough moment, we had [Aryna] Sabalenka do the same, and we have seen it on the men’s side too.
“But I don’t think [Aryna] Sabalenka deserves what she got after the French Open talking about that loss, because she was critical of her own game and didn’t thank Coco [Gauff].
“In a way, it’s like you get to the biggest stage and you lose and you talk to the press 10 minutes later, you haven’t had time to process it and your mind is not that clear.
“Nobody on their regular day job is getting talked about like ‘did you have a bad day at the office?’. Sometimes it is hard and she is going to figure it out.
“But at least give an honest answer and thank your opponent. Do these things and move on. I know it’s hard to do, but as an athlete, that is your job.”
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