Naomi Osaka blasts critics after booking her place in Stuttgart Open semi-finals

Naomi Osaka has blasted back at her critics, saying those who believe she is having a bad season are way off the mark.

Speaking after beating Donna Vekic in the Stuttgart Open quarter-finals 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, the world number one took the chance to answer those who have claimed she is struggling this year.

“I’m just going to say it because whatever. I might get in trouble, but it’s okay,” she told reporters.

“I don’t understand why people are saying I’m having a bad season if I won the Australian Open. Last year I didn’t win the Australian Open.

“Sure, I didn’t win Indian Wells but I still thought I did pretty good there, and at Miami. I’m here now, so sometimes I hear people say, ‘Naomi’s struggling there’, and I’m like ‘yo’.”

Osaka will face Anett Kontaveit in the semis, with Kiki Bertens and Petra Kvitova contesting the other.

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