MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Fashion and friction have been the defining features for Naomi Osaka in two rounds at the Australian Open that couldn’t have been more different.
Osaka fended off Sorana Cirstea in a tense 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win at Margaret Court Arena on Thursday night. Cirstea’s parting shot was at the net.
The pair barely exchanged a handshake over the net, with Cirstea glancing in Osaka’s direction briefly and then turning her head away.
As they walked toward the umpire’s chair, Osaka asked, “What was that for?”
Cirstea responded directly to the two-time Australian Open winner, upset with Osaka’s efforts to pump herself up at stages during the match.
“Apparently a lot of ‘C’mons’ that she was angry about,” Osaka said, “but whatever. I think this was her last Australian Open so, OK, sorry she was mad about it.”
Osaka got emotional in her on-court interview when asked to clarify why the tension heightened with the 35-year-old Romanian, saying, “She could have asked me (to stop).”
“Honestly … no one’s ever complained about it before. Also the umpire didn’t tell me I was wrong — the umpire said I was fine. Like, I thought we moved past it.”
She said she was open to talking it over with Cirstea.
“I guess that emotions were very high for her. I also want to apologize,” Osaka said. “I think the first couple things that I said on the court was disrespectful. I don’t like disrespecting people. That’s not what I do.”
Cirstea said the issue was blown out of proportion and she’d prefer to reflect on her decades of experience at the Australian Open.
“There was no drama. It was just a five-second exchange between two players that have been on tour for a long time,” she said. “It stays between us.”
The tense finish was in stark contrast to Osaka’s 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 — a design she said her clothing sponsor, Nike, let her create.
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.
“Just something fun I like to do on the court. I like to express myself through clothes,” Osaka said of her prematch walk-on designs.
“I’m really glad that you love it,” 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. “You guys look really cool by the way.”
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