Osaka crashes out from Indian Wells as Azarenka moves on

Sunday, 13 March 2022 at 10:00

Naomi Osaka crashed out against a very inspired Kudermetova as Victoria Azarenka moved on in Indian Wells.

Last year's finalist Victoria Azarenka played a very good match in Indian Wells taking down Astra Sharma in two sets. The Australian is not a consistent WTA-level player but she can be tricky to beat on her own day. Indian Wells is notorious for upsets and Azarenka did well to avoid that. The match was a rather straightforward one. Timely breaks in each one seal the deal for the Belarussian who moves on after 6-3 7-5.

Joining her in the next round won't be Naomi Osaka as the Japanese player ran into a very inspired Veronika Kudermetova. The match featured the Russian playing some of her best tennis as of late with a bit of drama as well. Early on in the match, Osaka found herself down 0-3 with a spectator shouting something that greatly upset Osaka.

Read also

2022 BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells ATP and WTA Prize Money with $8,584,055 on offer

She stopped the match talking to the umpire with tears following not long after that. It was later confirmed that the women shouted 'Naomi, you suck' which completely rattled Osaka who lost the opening set with 0-6. She did compose herself in the 2nd set a bit but Kudermetova was simply too good today as she won the 2nd set with 6-4 to move on.

Ben Rothenberg

@BenRothenberg

·Follow

Rough, strange scenes on Indian Wells Stadium. I couldn’t hear what was said, but a woman shouted something at Kudermetova that greatly upset Osaka, who stopped the match to talk to the umpire about it. A game later, Osaka fighting back tears.

803

Read 80 replies