Osaka ends the controversy and explains her strange speech in Montreal

Carlos Navarro | 8 Aug 2025 | 23.13

Naomi Osaka, with Mboko at the awards ceremony. Source: Getty

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They say that those with a mouth can make mistakes, but today's audience doesn't forgive even a small slip-up. Naomi Osaka, who set social media on fire throughout today's day after her slight 'snub' following her loss in the WTA Montreal 2025 final, has experienced it firsthand: in her post-match speech, rushed and very brief, she made no mention of her opponent's great game, Victoria Mboko, an 18-year-old who had just triumphed in the most important match of her short professional career.

The situation becomes even more complicated when we consider the protagonists' past: Naomi went through a similar situation after rising to fame at the US Open, in a final marked by Serena Williams' comments and anger. That day, the Japanese player was on the opposite side of the equation: now, the very young champion was a player who, on top of that, had admitted in the hours leading up to the final that she grew up idolizing and emulating the Japanese, who served as inspiration for Mboko to later be fighting to defeat her on the Centre Court of a WTA 1000 event.

The development of the final played a determining role in this controversy: Naomi's body language showed signs of resignation and neglect from the middle of the second set onwards, prompting the Canadian audience to support their compatriot vehemently. Displaying clear signs of anxiety, of not wanting to be there, rushing between points to the extreme and even playing half-heartedly in the final exchanges of the match, Osaka was a walking 'swallow me up' moment... and while battling her mental demons, of course, she forgot a clear indicator of courtesy and respect. Not a good combination.

Osaka chose to apologize after the controversy.

NAOMI'S APOLOGY

After not mentioning Mboko in her post-match speech and dismissing those present with brevity that left everyone stunned, Naomi Osaka had no choice but to react as soon as possible. Can such a glaring mistake be justified? What words does she genuinely profess to the champion? Through her Threads account, the Japanese wanted to put an end to the debate and give her perspective on what happened, explaining why her speech was so brief.

"Thank you, Montreal, it's been an incredible few weeks. I also want to apologize and congratulate Victoria. You played amazingly, and especially, you have a fantastic career ahead! I realized I didn't congratulate you on the court. Honestly, I was stunned and completely focused on not giving the same speech as in Indian Wells 2018 or in Jenny/Jennifer's situation, so I tried to keep it as short as possible. Thank you all for this week; see you in New York."

The Japanese refers to two past situations where she gave a speech as the winner: when she almost forgot to congratulate Kasatkina after defeating her in the Indian Wells 2018 final, and when she stopped her championship speech in Australia to ask the finalist, Jennifer Brady, how she would prefer to be referenced. Two rather surreal situations that have served as a shield to try to mitigate the negative comments received and that, according to Naomi, explain and settle the controversy. Do you buy Osaka's words? We'll see if this situation still has several chapters to come.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Osaka zanja la polémica y explica su extraño discurso en Montreal