"Nasty spirited raggedy woman" ; "Leave Naomi Osaka alone": Martina Navratilova's assessment of Japanese's Australian Open performance angers fans
Martina Navratilova's negative assessment of Naomi Osaka's performance in her first-round loss to Caroline Garcia at the Australian Open 2024 attracted a lot of attention from fans.
The Japanese lost 6-4, 7-6(2) to the 16th seed in her first match in Melbourne Park since 2022, suffering her maiden opening-round exit at the tournament.
When asked to assess Osaka's performance, Navratilova gave her a "C", claiming that the Japanese was not in shape.
“Tennis-wise, it was maybe a B-plus performance. But overall a C, because she couldn’t get to the ball that she wants to hit because she is not in shape," Navratilova said on Tennis Channel.
Navratilova compared Osaka, who recently made a return to tennis after giving birth, to Elina Svitolina, who made a similar comeback in 2023 and produced some good results.
"She gave birth, we know all that, but Svitolina did too and she looked a lot better off the bat. It is something you can control as long as you don’t have injuries, there is no reason not to get in better shape and then she can win a lot more matches," the former World No. 1 said.
Several fans were far from pleased with Martina Navratilova's statements on Naomi Osaka, with one calling her a "nasty spirited raggedy woman".
"The Svitolina comparison was so unnecessary. Martina such a nasty spirited raggedy woman," the fan's comment read.
One fan defended Osaka by saying that her being compared to Svitolina was unfair given the Ukrainian played smaller tournaments to get herself in form.
"I cut Naomi more slack than this. The Svitolina comparison is not fair. Elina played some smaller tournaments to work herself into form before really serious competition. Garcia is a tough 1st round opponent at a slam. A good 1st step for Naomi and she knows there's work to do," the fan's tweet read.
Another fan asked Navratilova to "leave Naomi Osaka alone" since she needed some time to get back to form.
"Mind you Svitolina needed around 2 months to get back her good form, and in her comeback she also lost to Tsurenko and Sasnovich. Naomi just played 3 matches, leave her alone, she needs time," the fan's tweet read.
Here are some other fan reactions to Martina Navratilova's statement on Naomi Osaka:
Naomi Osaka on her Australian Open comeback: "I felt like I did the best that I could possibly do"
Naomi Osaka said in her post-match press conference in Melbourne that she thought she played as well as she could.
"Yeah, I thought it was a really good match. For me, I felt like I did the best that I could possibly do. It was just really nice to be on Rod Laver again, hear the audience, how much they interacted with the match. That was fun," the Japanese said.
When asked about her plans in the upcoming months, Osaka said that she was contemplating playing in the two Masters 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami, as well as the tournaments in Dubai and Charleston. The former World No. 1 also claimed that she was looking to have a full clay-court season.
"Yeah, I mean, Wim just talked to me about playing a lot more matches. I don't know if he wants to add stuff. I'm definitely thinking of playing Dubai, Indian Wells, Miami, Charleston, then probably like a full clay season," Osaka said.
The 26-year-old is currently ranked 831st in the world.