(Indian Wells) Six months after her tears of distress in front of the press at the United States Open, Naomi Osaka broke down again on Saturday, this time in the middle of a match at Indian Wells and after her elimination at the 2^and tower, hurt by an insult uttered in the audience.

At the very beginning of the year, for her return to competition in Australia after a terribly difficult year in 2021 on a psychological level, the 24-year-old young woman, plagued by recurring anxiety problems, said “just want to feel pleasure on the court.

Saturday, in the Californian desert where she had until now almost only good memories – in particular her first title in 2018 – she was far from being granted. And the defeat, finally conceded 6-0, 6-4 against the Russian Veronika Kudermetova, is not the primary reason.

It’s those words, “Naomi you suck!” », came from the public during the 3^and game of the first inning, which made him flinch. The Japanese could not hide her distress by going to sit on her chair for the change of side.

She could not repress a few tears, after complaining about this behavior to the officials. Without consequence for the person who spoke these words, when it sometimes happens in the NBA that fans are excluded from arenas because of their verbal provocations or their aggressive behavior.

The memory of the Williams

Osaka kept her eyes foggy for the rest of the match. She struggled more to continue playing than to hope for a very hypothetical victory, given her obvious discomfort on center court. Especially since Kudermetova was able to remain imperturbable despite the circumstances, even when her opponent, driven by a pride that we have rarely seen in such difficulties, seemed to come back into the game.

Osaka eventually lost serve at 7^and game of the second round and the Russian did not miss the opportunity to end it.

The latter seemed very embarrassed at the microphone on the court.

“I didn’t hear what the lady [la spectatrice, NDLR] said because I was focused on my game,” Kudermetova explained after the game. “But then I saw that Naomi was starting to cry. I didn’t understand what had happened. »

Completely unexpectedly, Osaka agreed to speak on the court after his defeat. A terribly trying exercise that brought new tears to her cheeks.

“To be honest, I feel like I’ve been heckled before, it didn’t really bother me. But, I watched a video of Venus and Serena [Williams] getting heckled here. If you’ve never watched it, you should watch it,” she said painfully between sobs.

In 2001, during the final won by Serena Williams against Kim Clijsters, her sister Venus and their father Richard were insulted in the stands. For 14 years the two champions refused to return to play in this tournament.

“I try not to cry”

“I don’t know why, but it just popped into my head and it stuck…I’m trying not to cry. I just have to say thank you and congratulations,” she concluded, winking at Kudermetova.

In September, after his premature elimination at the 3^and round of the United States International of which she was defending champion, against the young Canadian Leylah Fernandez, Osaka had burst into tears in a press conference.

Previously, she had withdrawn during the tournament at Roland-Garros, after refusing to answer questions from the media, revealing to have anxiety problems, marked by “several depressive episodes”.

She had skipped Wimbledon, before returning home to the Tokyo Games, where she had lit the Olympic cauldron and where expectations were huge. But she had failed to glean a gold medal, being eliminated in the round of 16.

After her three-month break, in the wake of the United States Open, Osaka assured that she felt “as good as possible” at the start of the Australian Open, where she was also defending her title there but where she did not was able to exceed the 3^and tower.

Back down to 78^and world place, still very fragile psychologically, the question arises again of what will be its future on the courts.