Naomi Osaka continues to receive backlash for her speech after losing the Canadian Open final.
Osaka failed to congratulate Victoria Mboko after the teenager beat her to win the Canadian Open title.
This has provoked a huge reaction towards Osaka, who was slammed by Sam Querrey amongst many others.
Osaka has since apologised to Mboko, but the criticism for the former world number one has not stopped there.
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty ImagesRennae Stubbs says Naomi Osaka’s speech was ‘brutal to watch’
Former doubles world number one Rennae Stubbs had already admitted she felt sad watching Osaka’s speech, but she was not done there.
After having some time to reflect on the situation, Stubbs appears to now be even more frustrated by Osaka after speaking about the situation on her podcast.
Stubbs also drew comparisons to the men’s Canadian Open final, where Ben Shelton beat Karen Khachanov, who was then very complimentary in his post-match speech.
“It started off badly when she said ‘thanks I guess to the crowd’,” said Stubbs. “I was like no honey. It’s one thing – and I was a terrible loser and it’s really hard to do a speech after losing – but the fact that Khachanov lost 7-6 in the third in an epic match got up there and made the most amazing runners-up speech and was so gracious.
“It was like dude, come on! I think she has learned her lesson from it. I hope. Because that was one of the worst moments I have seen in a long time.
“Poor Mboko, you have got to give her credit. She goes I looked up to you so much, congrats on a great week, but I felt so badly for her too. She was an 18-year-old kid, who has just won the biggest match of her career. Beaten her idol. And the idol didn’t even give you credit that was brutal to watch.”
Will Naomi Osaka be able to bounce back from Canadian Open backlash?
Osaka has been warned that her speech could impact her career going forward, with her next tournament coming at the US Open.
This will be her ninth appearance at the New York major, with Osaka a two-time US Open champion.
However, Osaka has been unable to surpass the third round of the US Open since she last won the title in 2020.
The big boost for Osaka after her run to the Canadian Open final is that she will now be seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2021 Australian Open.
It is unclear as to whether Osaka will also play the US Open mixed doubles event, as she entered alongside Nick Kyrgios, but they have yet to be selected as a wildcard.
AloJapan.com