UPDATING: Apparently, Naomi Osaka was suffering from a mouth-in-mouth mistake.
Osaka took to social media today to clear the confusion over her acceptance speech after winning the Australian Open. At the time, she named her second-place Jennifer Brady “Jennifer,” despite being told recently that her favorite form of address was “Jenny.”
“Omg no,” Osaka wrote on Twitter with two crying emojis. ‘I promise my mind thought I was calling her Jenny at the time and I was so confused why the crowd was laughing. I’m very sorry.”
EARLIER: Australian Open winner Naomi Osaka got the name game wrong.
After the Osaka match with second place Jennifer Brady, Osaka had a blunder during her acceptance speech. The casual mistake was seen in some quarters as a tweak of her opponent.
Osaka defeated Brady 6-4 6-3 to win her second Australian Open title and fourth Grand Slam. During her acceptance speech, she turned to Brady and asked, “Do you like being called Jenny or Jennifer?”
Brady responded clearly. “Jenny.”
Osaka didn’t miss a beat. “First, I want to congratulate Jennifer.”
23-year-old Osaka, from Japan, praised Brady. But the damage was done when the Twitter outrage took turns getting away. So far, the count seems split between rudeness, a mistake in the moment, and trolling.
Watch and decide for yourself.
I love how Naomi Osaka politely asked Jennifer Brady if she’d rather be called ‘Jennifer’ or ‘Jenny’, then completely ignored what she said 😆pic.twitter.com/b8UzciMQnF
– Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) February 20, 2021