A former American tennis pro has joined the growing chorus in response to Naomi Osaka‘His very controversial speech after his defeat in the Canadian Open final. Osaka, fallen 6-2, 4-6, 1-6 to an 18 year old Canadian wildcard Victoria Mboko in Montreal last week, failed to congratulate his opponent in his comments on the field.
Appearing on the Nothing Major podcast with fellow retiree Steve Johnson, Sam Querrey, who reached a career world ranking of No. 11 and won 10 ATP titles, minced no words about the four-time Grand Slam champion’s post-match conduct.
“Can’t Osaka act like an adult for five minutes? Just give a nice speech, pretend for a minute, then head to the locker room. This drives me crazy. » Querrey said. He added: “She’s going to win $30 million too, you can’t help it. Give a decent speech, congratulate your opponent.”
Querrey, however, recognized the resurgence of tennis in Osaka. “But having said that, it was a great week for Osaka. She didn’t play very well. There have been little signs here and there, but to reach a final, she can go to the US Open now and make the semi-finals, finals or maybe win it..”
Victoria Mboko smiles during the 2025 Canadian Open final
This year, Osaka won the WTA 125 in Saint-Malo, her first tournament below Tour level since 2015, which was her first victory since the 2021 Australian Open. The final at the Canadian Open was her first WTA 1000 Final since the Miami Open in 2022.
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Osaka apologized to Mboko on social media
During her speech, Osaka was brief and did not mention Mboko, who at 18 is Number 1 player in Canada and had just won his first title. The youngster also said she admired Osaka growing up.
The Japanese star later addressed the issue on Instagram Threads, posting: “I also want to apologize and congratulate Victoria. You played a great match and you have an incredible career ahead of you! I realize I didn’t congratulate you on the field. Honestly, I was in a daze and was so focused on not having the same speech as IW 2018 finals or the Jenny/Jennifer situation that I tried to make my speech as short as possible.
Although the speech was a major talking point last week, Osaka and Mboko are poised to become one of the dark horses in the upcoming poll. US Openwhich begins Sunday, August 24 in New York.
