Four-time major champion and former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka was brought to tears during her second-round loss to Veronika Kudermetova at the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday after a fan heckled her from the stands during the first set.
After the match in Indian Wells, California, Osaka requested to address the crowd, something rarely done by the losing player. She explained exactly why she was so upset by what happened.
“To be honest, I’ve gotten heckled before, it didn’t really bother me,” Osaka said as her voice broke. “But [being] heckled here, I watched a video of Venus and Serena [Williams] 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.”
After being broken in the first game of the match against Kudermetova, a woman in the stands shouted, “Naomi, you suck.” Osaka,…
