{"id":427276,"date":"2026-01-23T04:04:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/427276\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T04:04:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T04:04:07","slug":"osaka-goes-from-fashion-to-friction-in-second-round-at-aussie-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/427276\/","title":{"rendered":"Osaka goes from fashion to friction in second round at Aussie Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Naomi Osaka of Japan walks onto the court for her second round match against Sorana Cirstea of Romania at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday.Dita Alangkara\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Fashion and friction have been the defining features for Naomi Osaka in two rounds at the Australian Open that couldn\u2019t have been more different.<\/p>\n

Osaka fended off Sorana Cirstea in a tense 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win at Margaret Court Arena on Thursday night. Cirstea\u2019s parting shot was at the net.<\/p>\n

The pair barely exchanged a handshake over the net, with Cirstea glancing in Osaka\u2019s direction briefly and then turning her head away.<\/p>\n

As they walked toward the umpire\u2019s chair, Osaka asked, \u201cWhat was that for?\u201d<\/p>\n

Cirstea responded directly to the two-time Australian Open winner, upset with Osaka\u2019s efforts to pump herself up at stages during the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cApparently a lot of \u2018C\u2019mons\u2019 that she was angry about,\u201d Osaka said, \u201cbut whatever. I think this was her last Australian Open so, OK, sorry she was mad about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Osaka got emotional in her on-court interview when asked to clarify why the tension heightened with the 35-year-old Romanian, saying, \u201cShe could have asked me [to stop].\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly … no one\u2019s ever complained about it before. Also the umpire didn\u2019t tell me I was wrong \u2013 the umpire said I was fine. Like, I thought we moved past it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she was open to talking it over with Cirstea.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Romania’s Sorana Cirstea speaks to Japan’s Naomi Osaka after losing her second round match on Thursday at the Australian Open.Jaimi Joy\/Reuters<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess that emotions were very high for her. I also want to apologize,\u201d Osaka said. \u201cI think the first couple things that I said on the court was disrespectful. I don\u2019t like disrespecting people. That\u2019s not what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cirstea said the issue was blown out of proportion and she\u2019d prefer to reflect on her decades of experience at the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no drama. It was just a five-second exchange between two players that have been on tour for a long time,\u201d she said. \u201cIt stays between us.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tense finish was in stark contrast to Osaka\u2019s grand entrance that went viral two days earlier for her first-round win over Antonia Ruzic. Osaka walked onto the court wearing a wide-brim hat, a veil and holding a white parasol \u2013 a design she said her clothing sponsor, Nike, let her create.<\/p>\n

For the second round, she dispensed with the couture hat, veil and parasol but was still wearing the jellyfish-inspired dress, a matching warmup jacket in the same blue and green aquatic hues, and a visor.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust something fun I like to do on the court. I like to express myself through clothes,\u201d Osaka said of her prematch walk-on designs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really glad that you love it,\u201d she added, looking up at two women in the crowd who had replicas of the wide-brim hat and veil that Osaka wore for her walk-on in the previous match. \u201cYou guys look really cool by the way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Naomi Osaka of Japan walks onto the court for her second round match…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427277,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,82,865,61,593,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-427276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-tennis","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427276\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}