Naomi Osaka came up short in her bid to win the Canadian Open title and caused quite the stir after the match.
The Japanese star led by a set to love in the Montreal final but failed to secure the win, as Osaka lost to Victoria Mboko, 6-2, 4-6, 1-6.
After the match, Osaka failed to mention Mboko in her runners-up speech, as she quickly thanked the event staff before handing over the microphone.
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
Osaka was widely criticized for her speech, as fans online called her ‘rude’ and ‘classless’.
Weighing in with his thoughts on the incident, former world number one Andy Roddick gave his verdict.
Andy Roddick says ‘people are allowed to be p—–‘ after losing matches
During the latest episode of ‘Quick Served’, Roddick commented on the drama surrounding Osaka’s brief runners-up speech.
“She didn’t really want to expand a lot in the post-match speeches,” he said.
“I see people are saying ‘she should’ve said…’, I don’t know, we’re the only sport that is forced to talk after we lose.
“Obviously, we’re not our best selves in that situation, and if people are, great, if they’re not, they’re not.
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“I would rather her be friendly with Vicky Mboko all the time than at Grandstand in front of a microphone.
“I don’t know if either is true, but Naomi [Osaka] is generally well-liked, polite, everyone likes her, and she doesn’t give a lot sometimes when she’s not ready to give a lot, and that’s fine.”
The American went on to suggest that tennis players are more harshly criticized for their post-match comments than athletes competing in different sports.
“No other sport do you have to go talk immediately in front of everyone and have the expectations to not only be courteous but to give everyone their flowers in an appropriate way. I don’t know, People are allowed to be p——,” said Roddick.
“If Michael Jordan did that, they’d be like ‘He’s such a competitor, he can’t get over it’.
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“I used to actually use that example with Serena [Williams] all the time; she would go to press sometimes and be really salty.
“I’m like, if that’s Jordan, everyone is celebrating his saltiness, but when it’s Serena, everyone’s writing articles about how salty she is, I don’t know.. It’s fine.”
Moving away from the controversy, Roddick was keen to congratulate Osaka on a positive week as the Japanese star took a big step forward in the lead-up to the US Open.
Andy Roddick thinks we’re about to find out if Naomi Osaka can be a top-ten player again
Congratulating Osaka on her efforts in Montreal, Roddick claimed she played her best tournament in years.
“First tournament post-Mouratoglou, and she has her best tournament in years. Switching directions, hitting that inside-out backhand line, you could tell how much she wanted this,” he said.
“This was a big, big, big week, week and a half for Naomi Osaka; this was a great result for her.”
Roddick then explained what we’re about to find out about Osaka over the next few months.
“This is the time of the year when we’re going to know if Naomi is going to be a top-ten player again, if she’s going to compete for Slams,” he said.
“She’s up to 25, and that spread between ten and 25 is like one result right now, one massive Slam result, a semi or a final.
RankNameAgeNationalityPoints1Aryna Sabalenka27Belarusian11,0205Jessica Pegula31American4,68510Elena Rybakina26Kazakh3,28315Ekaterina Alexandrova30Russian2,67620Beatriz Haddad Maia29Brazilian2,01425Naomi Osaka27Japanese1,77930McCartney Kessler26American1,49535Xinyu Wang23Chinese1,37340Maya Joint19Australian1,27145Lois Boisson22French1,21850Peyton Stearns23American1,156Live WTA Rankings (Selected positions)
Withdrawing from the Cincinnati Open, Osaka will likely make her return to the court in New York for the US Open, which begins on Sunday, August 24.