Naomi Osaka , former world number one, said goodbye to the first change in Indian Wells against Kudermetova (6-0 and 6-4). The Asian tennis player heard from the stands an “Osaka, you suck”, an insult that affected her emotionally and that made her leave California in tears. Rafa Nadal sent all his support to Osaka but also warned that you have to “be prepared for adversity.”
Naomi Osaka experienced one of the most unpleasant moments of her career when someone from the stands yelled at her: “Osaka, you suck”, at the beginning of the match against Kudermetova. The Asian tennis player wanted to respond and was visibly affected, ending up conceding a bagel in the first set. He did not recover in the second and ended up falling at the gates of the round of 16. Osaka, who has confessed to dealing with depression and anxiety that has made her give up tournaments, walked off the court in tears.
It was one of the topics of the day and many tennis players questioned about it at the press conferences spoke about it. One of them was Rafa Nadal, who did not hesitate to send his support to Osaka in such an unpleasant situation, although the Spaniard warned that being elite tennis players they have to be prepared for situations like this and not let them affect you.
“These kinds of questions are difficult to answer. I mean, the easy answer for me is to say that I feel terrible about what happened and that should never happen, “said the Balearic at a press conference. “But the truth in the real world is that these things happen,” Nadal added.
Naomi Osaka didn’t deserve this… pic.twitter.com/sQLbjsT2p3
— dana (@jazdahubi) March 13, 2022
“In my opinion, we have a great life. We are very lucky people who are able to enjoy incredible experiences because we are tennis players, “he valued. “Even though it’s terrible to hear such things, we need to be prepared for that, right? We need to resist these kinds of problems that can happen when you’re exposed to people. Nothing is perfect in this life, right? We have to be prepared for adversity,” Nadal said. “The only thing I can wish him is that he recovers well from that and I wish him all the best,” added the man from Manacor, in a gesture of support for Osaka.
Medvedev and the hostile environment in Australia
Rafa Nadal agreed with Andy Murray that they are situations that have to be dealt with, that even if they are unpleasant, it is better not to give importance. “Obviously I’m sorry for Naomi, it’s clear that it bothers her a lot,” said the Briton, “but it’s something that has always been a part of the sport. So you have to be prepared in some way and be able to handle it because it happens frequently in all sports.”
Also Daniil Medvedev, number one in the ATP, showed his opinion on the matter after falling in the third round at the hands of Gael Monfils. The Russian tennis player showed his solidarity with Osaka and acknowledged that he also had a bad time during the Australian Open final, in which the stands were overturned with the Spanish.
“I didn’t feel very good in Australia,” Medvedev said. “I can feel the fans maybe saying, what the hell? They are making millions, they should be ready for anything, but at the same time we are human. Sometimes we feel bad. Sometimes we feel good. I can understand that Naomi didn’t feel so good when she heard it and I can completely understand her feelings.”
