A former American tennis pros have joined the growing chorus reacting to Naomi Osaka’s much-debated speech after her loss in the Canadian Open final. Osaka, who fell 6-2, 4-6, 1-6 to 18-year-old Canadian wildcard Victoria Mboko in Montreal last week, skipped the customary congratulations for her opponent in her on-court comments.
Appearing on the Nothing Major podcast with fellow retired player Steve Johnson, Sam Querrey, who reached a career-high ranking of World No. 11 and won 10 ATP titles, didn’t mince words about the four-time Grand Slam champion’s post-match conduct.
“Can Osaka not just act like an adult for five minutes? Just give a nice speech, fake it for a minute and then move on to the locker room. It drives me nuts,” Querrey said. He added: “She is also going to make $30 million, you can’t just shy away from that. Give a decent speech, congratulate your opponent.”
Querrey, though, did acknowledge Osaka’s tennis resurgence. “But having said that, it was a great week for Osaka. She hasn’t been playing great. There have been little signs here and there but to make a final, she can go to the US Open now and make a run to the semis, finals or maybe win it.”
Victoria Mboko smiles during the 2025 Canadian Open final
This year, Osaka won the WTA 125 in Saint-Malo, her first tournament below Tour level since 2015, which was her first victory since the 2021 Australian Open. The final at the Canadian Open was her first WTA 1000 final since the Miami Open in 2022.
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Osaka apologized to Mboko on social media
During her speech, Osaka was brief and didn’t mention Mboko, who at 18 years old is Canadian No. 1 player and just had lifted her first title of her career. The youngster had also said that she looked up to Osaka while growing up.
The Japanese star later addressed the issue on Instagram Threads, posting: “I also want to say sorry and congratulations to Victoria. You played a great match and have an amazing career ahead! I realise I didn’t congratulate you on the court. Honestly, I was in a daze and I was so focused on not having the same speech as IW 2018 finals or the Jenny/Jennifer situation that I tried to make my speech as short as possible.”
While the speech has been a major talking point this past week, both Osaka and Mboko are poised to be one of the dark horses in the upcoming US Open, which starts on Sunday, August 24 in New York.
AloJapan.com