UPDATE: Apparently, Naomi Osaka suffered from a lack of foot-and-mouth disease.
Osaka went to social media today to clear up confusion about his acceptance speech after winning the Australian Open. At the moment, she called her runner-up Jennifer Brady “Jennifer”, despite being told moments before that her preferred way of driving was “Jenny”.
“My God, no,” Osaka wrote on twitter with two emojis crying. “I swear my mind thought I called her Jenny at the time and I was so confused because the crowd was laughing. I’m very sorry.”
EARLY: Australian Open winner Naomi Osaka got the name wrong.
After Osaka’s fight with runner-up Jennifer Brady, Osaka made a faux pas during his acceptance speech. Unforced error was seen in some sectors as an adjustment by your opponent.
Osaka defeated Brady 6-4 6-3 to win his second Australian Open title and fourth Grand Slam. During her acceptance speech, she turned to Brady and asked, “Do you like being called Jenny or Jennifer?”
Brady answered clearly. “Jenny.”
Osaka didn’t miss a beat. “First of all, I want to congratulate Jennifer.”
Osaka, 23, a native of Japan, praised Brady. But the damage was done, as Twitter’s outraged crowd took turns to attack. So far, the count seems divided between rudeness, an error at the moment and trolling.
Watch and decide for yourself.
I love how Naomi Osaka politely asked Jennifer Brady if she would rather be called “Jennifer” or “Jenny”, and then completely ignored what she said 😆pic.twitter.com/b8UzciMQnF
– Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) February 20, 2021