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Tennis star Osaka heckled  into tears

Naomi Osaka was brought to tears by a heckler during her defeat at Indian Wells on Saturday, sparking an extraordinary and at times unprecedented series of incidents in which the four-time Grand Slam champion was left in clear distress.

Osaka, who is ranked 78th in the world after her third-round exit at the Australian Open, was taunted in the first set by someone in the crowd yelling “Naomi, you suck.”

The 24-year-old, who took a break from tennis last year to focus on her mental health, went on to lose the match against Veronika Kudermetova 6-0, 6-4 and addressed the crowd afterwards to explain exactly why the incident had upset her so much. The loser of a match addressing the crowd after a match is almost unheard of in tennis outside of major finals.   

Osaka was trailing just 0-1 to Kudermetova when the heckle came from the stands. The Japanese star, 24, was visibly upset by the incident and instantly began to cry.

She immediately approached the chair umpire to ask for something be done. But, the umpire explained that she didn’t know who it was and could not take any action.

As a result, Osaka asked if she could use the umpire’s microphone during the match to address the crowd herself as it was ‘weighing’ on her heart.

However, the chair umpire, who sought the advice of the court supervisor, denied Osaka’s request – despite the fact the 24-year-old, who had tears streaming down her face, promised not to ‘curse’.  – Sportsmail

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