Naomi Osaka Rips Critic Who Called Her a 'Fluke
Julia Stumbaugh
BEIJING, CHINA - OCTOBER 01: Naomi Osaka of Japan in action against Coco Gauff of the United States in the fourth round on Day 9 of the China Open at National Tennis Center on October 01, 2024 in Beijing, China (Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images)
Robert Prange/Getty Images
Former WTA No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka blasted a critic for calling her a "fluke."
"I just saw someone call me a fluke," Osaka wrote on Threads. "How is possible to be a fluke with 4 grand slams, lighting the Olympic torch, beating multiple top 20 opponents and being close to top 50 the year after giving birth?... You couldn't even touch one of my accomplishments with her fingernail."
Osaka then shared the post on her Instagram story with the caption, "Did I lieeeee????"
Osaka, who made her return to the court in January after 15 months away and the birth of her first child, is currently ranked No. 75 in the world.
Osaka shared the post two days after forfeiting her Round of 16 match against Coco Gauff at the 2024 China Open.
With a quarterfinal bid on the line in Beijing, Osaka claimed the first set but lost the second. She then conceded the match before playing a third due to what she later said on Threads was a back injury suffered during practice earlier that day.
Osaka's progress at the China Open, where she won three straight matches for the second time this year, is the next step in her continued effort to climb the WTA rankings following her January return.
Since her close loss to No. 1 Iga Świątek during the French Open in May, Osaka has fought through several early tournament exits including a first-round elimination from the 2024 Paris Olympics in July and a qualifying-round loss at the Cincinnati Masters in August.
The most disappointing may have been Osaka's second-round exit at the U.S. Open, where she won two of her Grand Slam titles in 2018 and 2020.
Osaka celebrated her return to the tournament for the first time since 2022 with an opening-round win over No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko. The victory marked Osaka's first defeat of a top-10 opponent in four years.
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