Naomi Osaka ended Sorana Cirstea’s farewell at the Australian Open on Thursday night with a thrilling 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win at Margaret Court Arena. Cirstea’s parting shot ended up on the net.
The pair barely exchanged a handshake across the net, with Cirstea glancing toward Osaka for a moment and then turning her head away.
As they walked to the referee’s chair, Osaka asked, “What was that for?”
Cirstea responded directly to the two-time Australian Open winner, apparently angered by Osaka’s attempts to pump himself up during the match.
Osaka turned again, waved to the crowd and tried to explain what had happened in an on-field TV interview.
“Apparently a lot of ‘c’mons’ that she was mad about, but whatever,” Osaka said. “I mean, I tried to play well, I did my best. She’s a great player. I think this was her last Australian Open, so okay, sorry she was upset about it.”
Osaka became emotional when asked to clarify why the tension was increasing: “She could have asked me [to stop].”
“Honestly…no one has ever complained about it before,” she said. “The referee didn’t tell me I was wrong either. The referee said I was fine. I thought we had gone past it.”
She said she was open to talking to Cirstea about it.
“I think her emotions were very high. I also want to apologize,” Osaka said. “I think the first few things I said on the field were disrespectful. I don’t like to treat people disrespectfully. That’s not what I do.”
Cirstea said the issue had been blown out of proportion and she would rather reflect on her decades of experience at the Australian Open.
“There was no drama. It was just a five-second exchange between two players who have been on tour for a long time,” she said. “It stays between us.”
The thrilling finish was in stark contrast to Osaka’s grand entrance that went viral two days earlier for her first-round victory over Antonia Ruzic.
The No. 16 seed Osaka didn’t quite make the same entrance this time, without the couture hat, veil, and wide-brimmed parasol, but still wore the jellyfish-inspired dress, a matching warm-up jacket in the same blue and green aquatic tones, and a visor.
“Just something fun that I like to do on the court. I like to express myself through clothes,” Osaka said of her walk-on designs before the game, adding, “I’m really glad you love it.”
Osaka looked up at two women in the crowd who had replicas of the wide-brimmed hat and veil she wore during her walk-on in the previous match and said to them, “You guys look really cool, by the way.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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