“I Couldn’t Control it, Sorry Yonex:” Naomi Osaka Jokes about Throwing her Racket

China’s Zheng Saisai managed to put up a decent fight when she came up against reigning Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka on Wednesday.

Although 6-2, 6-4 looks like a comfortable win for the Japanese, there were moments in the match where her temperament was tested. The first set started with the two players sharing two sets each. Osaka then won four consecutive games to claim the first set.

In the second set, Osaka seemed to have lost her cool. She threw her racket and kicked it when she was down in the second set. She even joked about it after she eventually ended up on the winning side.

“My racquet just magically flew out of my hand. I couldn’t control it. Sorry Yonex,” she said.

“I got very frustrated in the second set, and it’s something that I knew would happen, but I didn’t know the scale, like, what she would do to make me frustrated. She was slicing and dicing and getting everything. I was, like, ‘Can I just hit a winner already?’.”

Naomi Osaka saved…… an insect

While skipping past Zheng, Osaka also had to skip past an insect on the court. She said that there were a few birds in the courts and she had similar experiences during her practice.

“There are a lot of birds on that court,” she said. “When I was practising, Wim [Fissette, her coach] tried to move a bug and it flew away, but then the bird just ate it mid-air. I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but in my mind it fits the story. I just didn’t want to step on it during the point, because I wasn’t sure how far back I was going to go.”

Osaka is now set to face American teenage sensation Coco Gauff in the third round in what is expected to be an exciting match.