Naomi Osaka has revealed that she “made sure to talk” to Victoria Mboko after she was criticised for her speech after the Canadian Open final.
Mboko rallied from a set down to beat former world No 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka in the Montreal championship match, completing a stunning week which saw her beat four major winners.
It was the first title of the 18-year-old Canadian’s career, and Osaka faced criticism from several quarters after failing to congratulate her opponent in her post-match runner-up speech.
Both the Japanese star and Mboko ultimately withdrew from the Cincinnati Open, with neither woman in action until the US Open, which has started this weekend.
Asked about the fallout to her post-match speech in Montreal, Osaka revealed that she had spoken to Mboko – and that the Canadian “didn’t notice” that the former world No 1 had not congratulated her at the time.
“I made sure to talk to her, because I know she’s young, and I would feel really terrible if that somehow impacted her humongous success,” said Osaka.
“But she said it didn’t, and she didn’t even really notice, so I was really glad about that. And I was also just really glad that she’s such a sweet girl, which honestly just made me feel even more terrible.
“Even going into the final, I wanted to potentially write my speech, because I know how I am with talking and doing speeches.
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“That was kind of a lesson to stick to my instincts a little. But yeah, I’ll definitely remember to congratulate my opponents.”
Osaka’s run in Montreal fired her back inside the top 30 of the WTA Rankings for the first time since 2022, with the Japanese currently ranked as the world No 24.
That means she is seeded at the US Open this year, the first time she has been seeded at a Grand Slam event since the 2022 Australian Open.
Osaka’s campaign will begin on Tuesday versus Greet Minnen, with the 23rd seed a potential fourth-round opponent for third seed and fellow former US Open champion Coco Gauff.
Meanwhile, Mboko is the 22nd seed in New York, in what is just her third appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam after playing the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this year.
The Canadian, who celebrates her 19th birthday on Tuesday, has been handed a fascinating round-one test against two-time Grand Slam singles champion Barbora Krejcikova.
In arguably the pick of opening-round matches in the women’s singles draw, Mboko will face Krejcikova on Monday, and could face 10th seed Emma Navarro in the third round.
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AloJapan.com