Naomi Osaka was hopeful that she would end her trophy drought at the Canadian Open. But she failed to cross the final hurdle in the form of Victoria Mboko.
Mboko came from a set down to win her career’s first WTA title by beating her idol. During the trophy presentation, the four-time Grand Slam champion quickly thanked everyone but did not congratulate Mboko, because of which, she has dealt with a lot of criticism, so much so that former ATP pro Sam Querrey told her to at least act like an adult. He said on the Northing Major podcast:
Can Osaka just like 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… She is also going to make $30 million; you can’t just shy away from that. Give a decent speech, and congratulate your opponent.
Osaka, however, said during her post-match press conference that she completely forgot to congratulate the 18-year-old. And later, she once again congratulated and apologized to the teenager on Threads, saying she was in a daze.
Mboko has become the second youngest player to win a WTA title after knocking out four Grand Slam champions. They were: Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and Osaka. Before this tournament, she had never reached the fourth round of a WTA singles event in any category.
Mboko started the season as a player ranked outside of the top 300. But at present, she occupies the 24th position on the rankings table. Osaka stands in the 25th spot. The Canadian Open was Mboko’s career’s third WTA 1000 tournament after this year’s Miami Open and the Italian Open (lost in the second round in both events).
Rennae Stubbs says Naomi Osaka’s runner-up speech was brutal to watch
Serena Williams‘ former coach, Rennae Stubbs, during The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, criticized Naomi Osaka for not giving credit to Victoria Mboko during her runner-up speech. She also lauded men’s Canadian Open runner-up Karen Khachanov for making the “most amazing runner-up speech” after losing to Ben Shelton.
AloJapan.com