INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (KNX) — During her second-round match at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Saturday night, Naomi Osaka was brought to tears after a heckler yelled out, "Naomi, you suck!"
Notably, Osaka, who was clearly distraught, has been extremely forthcoming on her battle against depression and even took a break last year to address her mental health.
The heckler's call broke the silence before Osaka's opponent, Veronika Kudermetova, offered up a serve in the pair's opening game at the BNP Paribas Open. But, while the crowd gasped at the heckler and began to cheer for Osaka, the tennis star was still shaken.
Osaka, who was fighting tears and clearly agitated, asked the judge twice if she could address the crowd and eject the spectator mid-game.
Her request was denied, with the judge saying they would be removed if it happened a second time. She went on to play, losing the match.
Osaka, who is of Black and Japanese heritage, talked about the situation in a post-match interview, comparing it to the berating that Serena and Venus Williams took while competing there in 2001.
"To be honest, I've gotten heckled before. It didn't really bother me, but it's like, heckled here," Osaka said during her interview. "I've watched a video of Venus and Serena getting 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 it got replayed a lot.
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In 2001, the Williams sisters said they were traumatized from the racial attacks they endured and didn't return to the event for over a decade — Serena Williams returned in 2015 and Venus Williams in 2016, but neither competed this year.
Osaka thanked the crowd in the interview for standing up for her and cheering her on after the heckler drew the attention from the match.
"I'm trying not to cry," Osaka said. "I just want to say thank you and congratulations [to Kudermetova]. Just thank you."
While many have shared online that Osaka may have overreacted to the simple heckle, it seems to be a growing theme for fans to say rather vulgar or upsetting things to athletes.
NBA players have not stood for it this year, as fans returned to their seats after a season without them or not as many of them due to the pandemic.
Lakers forward LeBron James had a couple ejected after a woman reportedly said she hoped his son would die in a car accident.
A video of Knicks guard R.J. Barret went viral when he told a fan to "shut the f*** up" after fans were yelling at him on the bench mid-game.
Lakers Guard Russell Westbrook even shared in a recent interview that he no longer brings his kids to the game because of the things fans say about him in his home arena.
So while Osaka did not receive the worst of insults, it does point to a growing issue in the world of sports, especially in a sport like tennis that demands silence from spectators during play.
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