Naomi Osaka found herself in a terrible situation on Saturday in Indian Wells. In the second round, the Japanese sensation was facing Veronika Kudermetova when a fan shouted, “Naomi you suck!” Naomi was deeply disturbed to call an official while fighting tears. Eventually, she lost 6-0 6-4.
After the match, Naomi asked to explain to the public what had happened. 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 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 got replayed a lot.”
What happened to Serena and Venus Williams in Indian Wells
Back in 2001, Serena was badly booed for the entire match during her final against Kim Clijsters. Serena was meant to play against her sister Venus in the semifinal, but Venus withdrew with a knee injury. The crowd didn’t like, and it was over hostile against the entire family. Serena and Venus’ father Richard said that he was the target of racial abuse. After 2 decades in 2021, Serena admitted she was still traumatized by what happened. She boycotted Indian Wells for 14 years.
Naomi Osaka in 2022
At the moment ranked no.78, Naomi played her last match on the 12th of March when she was overcome by world no.24 Veronika Kudermetova 6-0 6-4 in the 2nd round in Indian Wells (draw).
During this season Osaka achieved a compiled 6-2 record. Naomi Osaka’s most significant result of this season was reaching the semifinal in Melbourne.
Serena Williams in 2022
Ranked world no.236, the American played her last match on the 29th of June 2021 when she had to retire when playing against world no.59 Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the 1st round and the scoreline was 3-3 .
This season the American achieved a compiled 0-0 match record.
Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams faced off 4 times. Their actual head to head record is 3-1 for Osaka. Before, the last time they squared off, Naomi Osaka won 6-3 6-4 in the semifinal in Melbourne (Australian Open) in February 2021.
You can see them in action in the following highlights.
Venus Williams in 2022
LL Ranked world no.470, Venus Williams played her last match on the 23rd of August 2021 when she was overcome by world no.252 Su-Wei Hsieh 6-2 6-3 in the 1st round in Chicago (draw).
Currently, during this season Venus Williams has a 0-0 record.
