Naomi Osaka eliminated Stevens in the first round of the women’s singles last Friday. This morning, she met Gudamedova, a Russian player who competed as a neutral player in the women’s singles round of 64. She was broken in the first game and was in the audience. Some fans shouted “Naomi, you are annoying”. Naomi Osaka went to the referee’s bench to ask for action, but the opponent responded that the fan might not be found, and the game continued. The Japanese star lost another game and sat crying during the break, and the referee told her that if the abuse was repeated, they would try to find the troublemaker. Naomi Osaka finally swallowed the egg in the first set, and she still lost 4:6 in the second set and missed the top 32.
The 24-year-old Naomi Osaka has won four Grand Slams, and her emotional health has always attracted attention since she became famous at a young age. She refused to attend the post-match press conference at the French Open last year and announced her retirement the next day due to mental health issues. She shed tears on the court this time, and she revealed following the game that it was because of a short video, “To be honest, I have been harassed like this before, and it doesn’t affect me, but I remembered watching the short video of the Williams sisters. Being racist here. I wanted to stop crying, but the footage stuck in my head.”
The short video that Naomi Osaka mentioned was Venus Williams playing in the same game in 2001. She said that she and her father were racially discriminated once morest by fans passing by, and even said that “The Indian Wells game is a disgrace to the United States.” The two sisters later boycotted. This competition has been around for many years.
