Naomi Osaka is once again apologizing for reasons she may not even need to be sorry for. The 28-year-old won her second-round match at the Australian Open on January 22 against Romania’s Sorana Cîrstea, but not without a little drama.
During the match, the Japanese native yelled "Come on" multiple times after scoring points. While there are rules about when you can make noises like that, she wasn't breaking them. Regardless, Cîrstea went to the judge to complain about it.
The judge explained it was between serves, and Cîrstea didn't have the ball yet, saying, "This is fine." "So I can talk between points?" Cîrstea asked again, which the judge pointed out again, it was between serves. "You're not serving yet, so this wasn't a hindrance to you, so this is okay," she reiterated.
After her 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win, Osaka went to shake her hand, but there was clearly tension; Cîrstea barely made contact. There was some brief discourse on the floor before the Romanian walked away.
During the interview, the reporter asked about what it took to win when Osaka replied, “Apparently, a lot of ‘Come ons’ that she was angry about, but whatever." The crowd made audible sounds as Osaka continued.
“She’s a great player. I think this was her last Australian Open. Sorry, she was mad about it,” she added. Osaka, emotionally explained that Cirstea could have told her something directly, "She could have asked me, like, bro."
At the press conference, Osaka addressed the situation again, apologizing for the on-court interview. “If I’m being honest, I’ve never been involved in something like this before," she said. "I’m a little confused, but I get that emotions were very high for her."
Adamant, she never wants to be disrespectful, Osaka added, “I also want to apologize. I think the first couple of things I said on the court were disrespectful. I don’t like disrespecting people. That’s not what I do.”
She explained that she was pumping herself, and it had no ill intent towards her gameplay. "When I’m pumping myself up, in my head, I’m not like ‘Okay, and now I’m gonna distract the other person.’ It’s purely for me,” she explained.
Osaka will take the court tomorrow in the third round against Maddison Inglis. It's been an exciting comeback for Osaka, who took a brief break in 2021 due to mental health issues and again in 2022 for maternity leave. Her first match back was on New Year’s Day, 2024, at the Brisbane International.
Since then, she had an impressive run in 2025, reaching the Auckland Open women's singles final and the semifinals at the US Open.