Naomi Osaka took to Twitter late Saturday night to clear up an awkward interview, where it appears that Osaka deliberately referred to her opponent with the wrong name in an attempt to embarrass her.
After Osaka defeated Jennifer Brady to win her second Australian Open title, the 23-year-old winner tried to congratulate her opponent properly for a good match. Osaka asked Brady in the middle of an interview if she preferred Jenny or Jennifer when she referred to her and when Brady responded with ‘Jenny’, Osaka apparently ignored her and still referred to her as Jennifer.
Osaka tweeted an apology, saying she had heard Brady wrong.
“I promise you my mind thought I was calling her Jenny at that moment and I was so confused why the crowd laughed,” Osaka tweeted. “I’m so sorry.”
Osaka won 6-4 6-3 in two sets to reach her fourth Grand Slam.