CALIFORNIA
\nFour-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka was brought to tears by a heckler Saturday on the way to a 6-0, 6-4 loss to Veronika Kudermetova in the Indian Wells WTA hardcourt tournament. Japan\u2019s Osaka, ranked 78th in the world after her third-round exit at the Australian Open, was rocked early in the first set when someone in the crowd yelled \u201cNaomi, you suck.\u201d She pleaded with the chair umpire to take action to no avail, and at 0-3 down in the second-round match, her emotions spilled over.
\nOsaka pulled herself together and resumed the match, but Kudermetova, the 21st seed, raced through the opening set before Osaka managed to hold serve to open the second.
\nAlthough she lifted her game, Osaka couldn\u2019t capitalize on any of her four break points in the contest, and a break of serve in the seventh game of the second set was enough for Kudermetova to capture the victory.
\nOsaka put athlete mental health in the spotlight in a difficult 2021 in which she revealed she had suffered depression.
\nBut speaking on court after the match she said it wasn\u2019t that she found the comment so hurtful that she was upset, but because it reminded her of Venus and Serena Williams being heckled at Indian Wells in 2001.
\n\u201cTo be honest I feel like I\u2019ve been heckled before it didn\u2019t really bother me,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cBut, like, I\u2019ve watched a video of Venus and Serena being heckled here.
\n\u201cIf you\u2019ve never watched it you should watch it,\u201d she added, tearing up again.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know why, but it went into my head and it got replayed a lot.
\n\u201cI\u2019m trying not to cry,\u201d she said, her voice breaking.
\n\u201cI just have to say thank you and congratulations,\u201d she added with a nod to Kudermetova. \u201cThank you.\u201d
\nThe superstar Williams sisters boycotted Indian Wells for 14 years over the events of 2001.
\nVenus had pulled out of a semi-final match against her sister with a knee injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
CALIFORNIA Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka was brought to tears by a heckler Saturday on the way to a 6-0, 6-4 loss to Veronika Kudermetova in the Indian Wells WTA hardcourt tournament. Japan\u2019s Osaka, ranked 78th in the world after her third-round exit at the Australian Open, was rocked early in the first set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-249423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n