"I feel for her, but you gotta be prepared" - Andy Murray speaks on Osaka heckling in Indian Wells

Andy Murray came out in support of Osaka and the heckling she experienced in Indian Wells from a fan, but he also underlined the need for playres to prepare themselves for it.

A spectator in the Indian Wells crowd yelled “Naomi, you suck”, with Naomi Osaka visibly upset and eager to speak to the fan using the umpire’s microphone – a request which was denied. Speaking after his defeat to Alexander Bublik, Andy Murray spoke of the heckling he has witnessed across a variety of sports, including tennis.

He said:

“It’s a difficult one. I’ve often thought watching certain sports, I wouldn’t say I’ve often seen it loads in tennis - I know it’s happened but I don’t think it’s that common in tennis - but if I watch a football match and a player’s going to take a throw-in or a corner kick and the crowd are just hurling insults at those individuals, I always think like, you know, how’s that allowed? You can’t do that."

Murray further said:

“So, obviously I feel for Naomi, that obviously it upset her a lot, but it’s always been something that’s been part of sport as well. So you have to be prepared for that in some ways and be able to tolerate it because it does happen regularly across all sports.”