‘She’s Had Some Issues in the Spotlight’ – John Isner Weighs in on Naomi Osaka’s Recent Issue at Indian Wells 2022

The incident faced by Naomi Osaka during her third-round match at the on-going Indian Wells tournament has been a topic of discussion over the past few days with multiple players giving their opinions over the same. Recently, American tennis star John Isner was asked about his take over the entire controversy after his victory over Diego Schwartzman on Tuesday.

Isner expressed his sympathies towards Osaka and believes that one can never know how a small incident can have an adverse effect on a player.

“Yeah, for sure, I’ve had some times where I’ve had some people riding me on the court before and you know, you never really know how is gonna affect us out there, everyone’s different. So, I’m not one to say that she should toughen up and be better out there.”

The American also wanted Osaka to remember that it was just one person who maybe was hammered before he made those comments.  

“But, you know, it is something that, it’s actually, as you said, I don’t think it’s that common in tennis and it’s just so easy for it to happen, you have one fan have a little too much beer, a little too much liquor and start and be belligerent out there because it’s a sport where you’re quite and whatnot, you hear everything.“

John Isner shared some words of advice to Osaka

While it’s difficult to comprehend what Osaka went through during that moment, Isner provided a realistic view that every top athlete might have faced heckling at one point or the other in their careers and also wanted the Japanese player to realize that she’s an out-and-out superstar for most of the tennis loving audience.

“She’s had some issues, in the spotlight. she does seem to be introverted little bit and she’s this megastar too. She’s got to balance that and I bet all the players maybe dealt with this at some point, so, hopefully for her, this can be a learning experience. I think, the one thing she does have going for her is the majority of people do like her and enjoy her tennis especially.”

Watch this story: top-seeds-Naomi Osaka, John Isner, Stefanos Tsitsipas and others who faced huge upset at us open.

During his long career, Isner faced his share of crowd’s disappointing behavior. One such event is when he was playing in New York in the second round of the US Open in 2013. He was struggling to cast a win against Gael Monfils but the crowd’s constant cheer for the Frenchman did have an effect on Isner’s game but the American managed to pull off an incredible victory in four sets.

Read more: ‘Doesn’t Get Any Easier Than This’: John Isner Excited To Play In-Front of Home Fans at ATP Dallas Open 2022