MADRID, 13 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka said goodbye to the Indian Wells tournament (United States) this Sunday after falling in the second round against the Russian Veronika Kudermetova (6-0, 6-4), a match during which a spectator yelled at her ‘ Naomi, you suck’ and caused her to burst into tears.
During the first set of the match, an individual present in the venue began to rebuke the four-time ‘Grand Slam’ champion, who, when insulted again, approached the chair umpire to report the incident.
The 24-year-old, playing her first tournament after her shock early exit from the Australian Open in January, was in tears as she prepared to serve down 3-0, which turned into a donut in a set in the one who wasted his four chances of ‘break’. Already in the second set, she suffered a break in the seventh game that precipitated her defeat.
Through tears, he left the track, and assured that what happened had reminded him of the insults to which the Williams sisters were subjected in Indian Wells in 2001.
The father of the legendary sisters, Richard Williams, claimed at the time that he had been racially abused in Indian Wells, while Venus Williams said she “heard everything”. Serena Williams boycotted the competition for 14 years before returning to Indian Wells in 2015.
“I’ve been interrupted before and it didn’t really bother me. But being booed here… I’ve seen videos of Venus and Serena being booed here and if you’ve never seen it, you should watch it. I don’t know why, but it crossed my mind and I played it a lot. I just want to thank and congratulate Kudermetova,” Osaka said.