{"id":430069,"date":"2026-01-22T14:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/430069\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T14:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T14:03:12","slug":"naomi-osaka-apologises-for-disrespectful-post-match-comments-aimed-at-sorana-cirstea-after-tense-australian-open-exchange","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/430069\/","title":{"rendered":"Naomi Osaka apologises for ‘disrespectful’ post-match comments aimed at Sorana Cirstea after tense Australian Open exchange"},"content":{"rendered":"

Naomi Osaka has apologised for what she deemed to be a “disrespectful” post-match interview after her win over Sorana Cirstea.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Osaka and Cirstea were involved in a tense post-match handshake following the No.16 seed’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win on Margaret Court Arena.<\/p>\n

Cirstea took umbrage with Osaka making noise in between her serves, after the Japanese star could be heard saying “come on” after a failed first serve.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old barely looked at Osaka while shaking her hand at the net after the match, and when asked by Osaka what it was about, she told the two-time Australian Open winner: “You have no idea what fair play is”.<\/p>\n

When on-court interviewer Chandra Rubin asked a seething Osaka what it took to get past Cirstea, she replied by saying, “Apparently a lot of come ons that she was angry about or whatever”.<\/p>\n

“I think this was her last Australian Open so, OK, sorry she was mad about it.”<\/p>\n

Despite saying she was “confused” by the exchange, Osaka later walked back her initial comments in her post-match press conference with reporters shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n

“I get that emotions were very high for her, and I also want to apologise,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I think the first couple of things that I said on the court [were] disrespectful, and I don’t like disrespecting people, that’s not what I do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“When I’m pumping myself up, in my head I’m not like, ‘OK, and now I’m going to distract the other person’, it’s purely for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I thought I could’ve done a lot better.”<\/p>\n

Osaka suggested her aggressive celebrations came after feeling “casually disrespected” during the match.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’m not a person that reacts well to be casually disrespected,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Naomi<\/p>\n

Osaka was uncharacteristically amped up after a number of winning points during the match against Cirstea. (Getty Images: Phil Walter)<\/p>\n

“So yeah, I probably overdid it over the next couple of points, but it takes a lot out of me, like I’m very tired now.”<\/p>\n

Osaka’s comments came after Cirstea, playing in her last Australian Open, refused to elaborate on the exchange.<\/p>\n

“We just had a chat. Nothing big. Again, I don’t think that’s the main thing after tonight match,” she told reporters when asked about the handshake.<\/p>\n

“Again, it was a good match. She was much better than me towards the end. Yeah, she deserved the win. So that’s all I will say.<\/p>\n

‘You have no idea what fair play is’: Osaka and Cirstea in tense exchange<\/a><\/p>\n

There was no love lost at the net between Naomi Osaka and Sorana Cirstea following a tense three-setter on Margaret Court Arena.<\/p>\n

“There was no drama. It was just a five-second exchange between two players that have been on a tour for a long time. It stays between us.<\/p>\n

“I don’t think that’s \u2014 again, for me this was my last match at the Australian Open, so I think I’ll like to stay with that.”<\/p>\n

Osaka said she had no indication throughout the match that her conduct had been frustrating Cirstea.<\/p>\n

“I was like, ‘Huh, that’s interesting’, and that was my exact thought in my head,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"Sorana<\/p>\n

Cirstea preferred to focus on playing her last Australian Open match, rather than the exchange with Osaka. (Getty Images: Phil Walter)<\/p>\n

“No one’s ever complained about it before, and also the umpire didn’t tell me I was wrong, the umpire said I was fine. I thought we moved past it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“If I’m being honest, I’ve never been involved in something like this before.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I don’t know if we’re supposed to leave it on the court and be like, ‘Hey! How are you doing?’. I’m a little confused.”<\/p>\n

Osaka will face Australian qualifier Maddison Inglis in the third round after Inglis’s stunning win over Laura Siegemund.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Naomi Osaka has apologised for what she deemed to be a “disrespectful” post-match interview after her win over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,6571,28375,44,64471,747],"class_list":["post-430069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-open","tag-naomi-osaka","tag-news","tag-sorana-cirstea","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}