Tennis - Australian Open - Women's Singles Final - Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 20, 2021 Japan's Naomi Osaka and Jennifer Brady of the U.S. embrace after their final match REUTERS/Loren Elliott
Naomi Osaka raced towards a fourth Grand Slam and second Australian Open title after beating Jennifer Brady at the Australian Open 2021 finals. But the Japanese stalwart aced her victory speech as well, which involved her ‘trolling’ the American.
In her speech, Osaka asked Jennifer Brady whether she likes to be called ‘Jenny’ or ‘Jennifer’.
“Do you like to be called Jenny or Jennifer?” Osaka asked.
“Jenny,” Brady replied.
Hilariously, however, instead of using ‘Jenny’, Osaka used ‘Jennifer’ to congratulate and thank her opponent. This had the crowd gleefully laughing, and everyone thought it was Naomi being cheeky.
“I want to congratulate Jennifer. We played in the semis of the US Open a couple of months ago and I told everyone that would listen that you’re gonna be a problem, and I was right,” Osaka said.
Now, seeing the online reaction, Osaka realized what she’d done. Subsequently, the now four-time Grand Slam champion went on Twitter to clarify that she had a brain-fade moment and wanted to call Jennifer Brady ‘Jenny’.
“Omg no. I promise you my mind thought I called her Jenny in that moment and I was so confused why the crowd was laughing. I’m so sorry,” Osaka tweeted.
Apart from Osaka’s title victory, fans flocked to the internet and presumed that Osaka had intentionally poked fun at Brady. But from the looks of it, Osaka had too much on her mind and absent-mindedly slipped-up.
The Aussie Open final was one-sided for most of the part with a 6-4, 6-3 score. Osaka, for one, looked nervy at the start of the contest but as the match went on she became comfortable. With this victory, she has maintained a perfect record at Grand Slam finals.
Interestingly, Osaka has won a Grand Slam whenever she has reached the quarterfinals stage. She now boasts an incredible 4-0 record in quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals of Grand Slam events.
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