The truth about the major conflict between Sorana Cîrstea and Osaka. The Japanese apologized publicly. “I'm sorry. What I said was disrespectful!”
Naomi Osaka wanted to clarify the tensions that arose after the duel with Sorana Cîrstea in the second round of the Australian Open, a confrontation won by the Japanese athlete, according to DPA.
Soran Cîrstea and Naomi Osaka Photo/Profimedia
The match ended in a tense atmosphere, marked by a controversial moment in the deciding set, when the player from Romania complained to the referee about a shout of encouragement from her opponent.
Sorana Cîrstea's dissatisfaction was also visible at the end of the match, won by Osaka 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, and the greeting from the net was cold and extremely short. Afterwards, Naomi Osaka approached the Romanian directly to discuss the incident, the two having a short exchange of lines on the field.
“I want to apologize. It's not my way!”
After the match, the Japanese apologized for the situation created and explained the context of the tense moments.
“It seems that she was upset because of several «hai!». He could have asked me. I'm sorry. She is a great player. I think that was her last Australian Open, so I'm sorry she was upset about that.I'm a little confused. I think the emotions were very strong for her.
I also want to apologize. I think the first few things I said on the field were disrespectful. I don't like ignoring people. It's not my style. So if he wants to talk about it, then yes. But when I motivate myself, in my mind I don't say: “Okay, now I'm going to distract the other person.” It's just for me. No one ever complained about it. In addition, the referee did not tell me that I was wrong. The referee said they were fine. (…) I thought I had overcome the situation!”said the Japanese woman.
“It was an exchange of lines!”
Sorana Cîrstea, who will end her career at the end of this season, avoided going into details about the incident.
“I won't talk about it. This is my last Australian Open. I've been playing for 20 years. It's more than just a five-second chat at the end that I had with Naomi. There was no drama. It was just a five-second exchange between two players who have been around for a long time. It stays between us!”, said Sorana Cîrstea.
In the next round, Naomi Osaka will play against the Australian Maddison Inglis, the goal being to qualify for the round of 16.
