Former world number one Naomi Osaka was brought to tears by a heckler during her 6-0 6-4 defeat by Veronika Kudermetova at Indian Wells.
The four-time Grand Slam winner was taunted in the first set by someone in the crowd yelling "Naomi, you suck". It affected her deeply as she was reduced to tears not long after that while also stopping the match to talk to the umpire. Speaking after the match and addressing the crowd, she said:
"I've been heckled before and it didn't really bother me. But
being heckled here. I've watched video of Venus and Serena get heckled
here and if you've never watched it, you should watch it. And I don't
know why, but it went into my head and got replayed a lot."
The heckling of the Williams sister was quite bad prompting Serena to boycott the event for 14 years.
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mandoist13-09-2026 - “The way I like to put it – no disrespect to anybody – is that this is her house, and all the other girls are just guests, and it’s time for them to go home” Well now... seems John Stacy has made a complete ass of himself. Doubt he'll be receiving any invitations to Lena's "house" any time soon.mandoist13-09-2026
- I am sorry, but Sabalenka has NO EXCUSE for her despicable behaviour. She lacks self and mouth control! The message is being sent but Saba isn't getting it! She is full of arrogance and pride. Hopefully, after this defeat she will be on the way to becoming a humble lady LIKE ELENA! I hope she never regains the world No. 1 until she develops some humility.Rapunzel13-09-2026
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- They probably have a very good reason for this. I do not get it. Annoying that it finishes so late
AceOfBase12-09-2026
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