Naomi Osaka and Sorana Cirstea both climbed down from the contentious end to their Australian Open match when speaking in their post-match press conferences.
Two-time Australian Open champion and 16th seed Osaka battled past tour veteran Cirstea in a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory inside the Margaret Court Arena on Thursday, though it was the ending of their match that attracted the most attention.
Cirstea appeared to complain to the umpire when serving at 4-2 down in the third set that Osaka was saying “come on” in between the Romanian’s first and second serves, with the Japanese ultimately breaking in that game before successfully serving out the match.
The pair then exchanged a frosty handshake, followed by a tense but brief conversation.
Osaka appeared visibly frustrated during her on-court interview and appeared to take a mild dig at her “angry” opponent.
Defeat marked the end of Cirstea’s 18th and final Australian Open appearance, with the 35-year-old set to retire from tennis later this year.
However, when asked about the tense exchange in her post-match press conference, the world No 41 attempted to diffuse the situation.
“No, all good, we just had a chat. Nothing big,” said Cirstea.
“Again, I don’t think that’s the main thing after tonight’s match. It was a good match, she was much better than me towards the end, she deserved the win. That’s all I will say.”
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Asked further about the incident in a later question, the Romanian again refused to take the issue any further.
She added: “I will not talk about that. This is my last Australian Open, I’ve been playing for 20 years, and I think there’s a bit more going on than just a five-second discussion at the end that I’ve had with Naomi.
“This was my last Australian Open, so, yeah, I think the emotions are bigger for me right now than to talk about a five-second chat I had with Naomi at the end.”
Victory saw Osaka progress to the third round of the Australian Open for the second straight year, and she will now look to reach the second week of the tournament for the first time since 2021 — when she won the second of her two titles in Melbourne.
And, when asked about her perspective on the incident in her own press conference, the former world No 1 was also keen to move on from the exchange — while also offering Cirstea an apology.
She said: “If I’m being honest, I’ve never been involved in something like this before. So it’s like, I don’t know if we’re supposed to leave it on the court and be like: ‘Hey, how you doing?’
“I’m a little confused, but like I get that emotions were very high for her, and I also want to apologise. I think the first couple things I said on the court was [sic] disrespectful, and I don’t like disrespecting people. That’s not what I do.
“So, yeah, I mean, if she wants to talk about it, then yeah, but when I’m pumping myself up, in my head, I’m not like: ‘Okay, and now I’m gonna distract the other person.’ It’s purely for me.”
Osaka will return to court on Saturday to face qualifier Maddison Inglis, and could potentially face second seed Iga Swiatek in the round of 16.
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