![\"Download](\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/static\/media\/right-red-arrow.92bca5db.svg\"){kind=icon}
<\/a><\/p>\nOsaka struggled through the third set and was clearly disappointed to miss out on her first title since the 2021 Australian Open.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really want to take up too much time so I\u2019ll just say thank you to everyone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you to my team, thank you to the ballkids, thank you to the organisers and all the volunteers. I hope you guys had a good night.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was later announced Osaka would skip her post-match press conference, with the WTA providing written quotes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Victoria played really well. I completely forgot to congratulate her on the court. Yeah, I mean, she did really amazing, so…\u201d Osaka was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
Osaka infamously had her maiden grand slam triumph spoiled at the 2018 US Open, reduced to tears on the dais as the American crowd booed during the presentation following a controversial match for her opponent and idol Serena Williams.<\/p>\n
She won three more slams before taking a break from tennis in 2021 to focus on her mental health and wellbeing.<\/p>\n
With Osaka\u2019s journey in mind Australian tennis great Rennae Stubbs said it was \u201csad\u201d that the runner-up did not congratulate Mboko.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way Naomi handled it in the end was a little \ud83d\ude33,\u201d Stubbs wrote on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you think about all the things she has gone through, the big matches she\u2019s won, that was a capitulation \u2014 and the speech\ud83d\ude33!<\/p>\n
\u201cTo not congratulate Vicky, who\u2019s looked up to you her whole career and just won this massive title was sad.\u201d<\/p>\n
In her on-court speech Mboko thanked Osaka \u201cfor an incredible match\u201d, with the crowd offering a hearty applause.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always looked up to her when I was really little. It\u2019s always great to play with such an amazing player like you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Osaka entered the tournament on the back of her recent split with high-profile coach Patrick Mouratoglou.<\/p>\n
The Montreal final was her first appearance in a WTA 1000 decider since April 2022 prior to taking time off the tour to give birth to daughter Shai.<\/p>\n
Mboko, meanwhile, will enter the US Open at a career-high ranking inside the world\u2019s top 30.<\/p>\n
The teenager, born in the US to Congolese parents before growing up in Toronto, started the year ranked outside the top 300.<\/p>\n