After losing the first game of her second-round match against Veronika Kudermetova at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday night, Naomi Osaka was taunted by a spectator in the crowd who reportedly yelled out “Naomi, you suck.”
The four-time grand-slam champion, who withdrew from the French Open and then missed Wimbledon last year after revealing her mental health issues, was heckled early in the match. She lost 6-0, 6-4 to the world No 24, according to CNN
.The news outlet reported that after hearing a shout from a suite in Stadium 1 on Saturday, a distraught Osaka was shaken by the comment and asked the umpire for the microphone to address the crowd, during a break in play.
But that request was denied. There has been no comments on whether the spectator was identified or removed from the venue. After speaking to a tournament supervisor, she was allowed to speak after the match.
Addressing the crowd after the match, a choked-up Osaka referenced the 2001 incident when Serena and Venus Williams were targeted with racially charged insults at the same tournament.
The tennis champions Venus and Serena Williams and their father, Richard, were booed by the Indian Wells crowd in 2001 after Venus pulled out of the sisters’ scheduled semifinal matchup at the last minute due to a knee injury, as per The Los Angeles Times. The sisters boycotted the tournament for years. Serena went on to win the final but didn’t return to the Indian Wells until 2015. Venus returned in 2016.
On November 17, 2021, Serena Williams went on the Red Table Talk Show with Will Smith and explained how she experienced anxiety when she returned to compete in Indian Wells in 2015.
“I mean, it was hard. Talk about post-traumatic stress and mental anxiety.”