VIDEO. Osaka and Kirstea had a falling out following their match at the Aus Open. What happened?

Japanese Naomi Osaka and Romanian Sorana Cirstea They were relegated after their match at the 2026 Australian Open.

On January 22, Naomi defeated Sorana in the 1/32 final match with scores of 6:3, 4:6, 6:2 in 1 hour 58 minutes.

In the third set, when Osaka was shouting “kamon” between Kirsty’s first and second serves, Sorana did not like it and turned to the referee: “Is this normal? Shout “kamon” between games? Not the first time in this match.” The Romanian then heard the answer that this was not prohibited by the rules.

After the conflict ended, Osaka and Cirstea coldly shook hands.

• Naomi Osaka: Why are you doing this?
• Sorana Cirstea: Because you don’t know what fair play is, my friend. You’ve been playing for so long that you still don’t know what fair play is.

During an on-court interview, Osaka explained what it would take to beat Sorana:

“Apparently there was a lot of ‘kamon’ and stuff that made him very angry. He’s a great player. Apparently this is his last Australian Open. It’s a shame it turned out this way. Although he could have simply said: ‘Hey, I’m sorry but you’re in the way.’ Sometimes emotions boil over, which is understandable. He had an incredible match.”

Sorana Cirstea said at the press conference that she and Naomi had resolved the situation:

“Everything is fine. We just had a chat. Nothing special. After today’s match, I don’t think that’s the main point. The match was good, he was stronger than me towards the end. And yes, he deserved to win. That’s all I have to say. I won’t talk about it. This is my last Australian Open, I’ve been playing for 20 years. I feel there was more than a five-second argument at the end of the match.”

Did you have a chance to talk to Naomi after the match? Is this the most important part of today? There was no drama in this; just two players who have been on Tour for a long time exchanged a few words in five seconds. This is between us. Again, this is my last match at the Australian Open. I’d like to stop there.”

Naomi Osaka also commented on the situation at the press conference:

“Honestly, I’ve never been in this situation before. I don’t know if we should leave it on the field and just keep communicating: ‘Hi, how are you?’ I’m a little confused, but I understand it’s very emotional for him. And I want to apologize. I think the first few things I said on the field were disrespectful. I don’t like disrespecting people. If he wants to talk about it, yes. When I back myself up, I don’t think, ‘Okay, I’m going to tear myself down now.’ [внимательность] another person.” This is just for me.”

Video review of Naomi Osaka – Sorana Cirstea match