Three years removed from being the No. 1 player in the world, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka's struggles continued at the Paribas Open on Saturday.
In a 6-0, 6-4 loss to Veronika Kudermetova in the second round, the 24-year-old was heckled by a fan in the Indian Wells crowd.
What was said to Osaka at Indian Wells?
The heckler was repeatedly heard yelling, "Naomi, you suck" as Kudermetova went to serve during the match.
After the game, Osaka, who was brought to tears during the match, asked if the fan could be removed.
She also asked if she could speak to the fan via the umpire's microphone. Her requests were denied, and play resumed.
😔 This is the awful moment @naomiosaka is brought to tears by a heckling fan at Indian Wells | The four-time grand slam champ couldn't recover, losing in straight sets to Veronika Kudermetova | More here 👉 https://t.co/XIWw8bEGWf pic.twitter.com/2sd59wfhDa
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_AUS) March 13, 2022
After Osaka finished out the match, she waited for Kudermetova to address the crowd before asking to say some words herself.
"To be honest, I've gotten heckled before, it didn't really bother me," Osaka said.
"But heckled here, I watched a video of [the Williams sisters] getting heckled here, and if you've never watched it, you should watch it. I don't know why, but it went into my head, and it got replayed a lot. I'm trying not to cry."
Osaka was referring to an incident involving the Williams sisters that occurred in 2001, when Serena was jeered all throughout a match with Kim Clijsters.
The anger was funneled to Serena because of suspicions that her father, Richard, had a hand in Venus' injury withdrawal in the semifinals, which was slated to be between Venus and Serena.
