Naomi Osaka recently took a jab at death threats to athletes because of sports gambling, calling it ‘insane.’ She is currently gearing up for her second-round appearance at the ongoing Indian Wells.
Osaka opened her Indian Wells campaign on Friday against Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva, where she produced a dominant display to win 7-5, 6-2. The Japanese player is now scheduled to compete against Camila Osorio in the second round.
Amid the ongoing tournament, news surfaced of distressing incidents involving two players. The two players are Italian Lucrezia Stefanini, who is competing at the BNP Paribas, and Hungarian Panna Udvardy, who is competing in an event in Turkey.
Both players received gambling death threats before their respective matches. They were threatened with harm to them and their family if they didn’t intentionally lose in their respective matches.
Reflecting on this in her post-match conference at Indian Wells, Osaka shared her take on gambling death threats. She said that people shouldn’t take out their losses on the athletes. She said:
“Probably, but I don’t, like, I just live my life, and whatever happens, it’s whatever, which is either really, like, positive way of thinking or negative, I don’t know, but that’s just how I deal with it.
“I think sports gambling, it’s harsh to say it’s terrible, because obviously I’m an athlete, and so I’m living on the other side of it. But I don’t see a positive to it, especially when people don’t treat the athletes as human,.”
She added:
“And I get some people, like, bet absurd amount of money, but that’s their responsibility and they shouldn’t be taking it out on the athlete, because I think we care more if we win or lose than the person betting money. So to like threaten someone’s life over it is insane.”
Taking to Instagram, Udvardy posted screenshots of her WhatsApp chat, where she received pictures of her family and a gun.
Naomi Osaka Shared Her Take on How Hard is it Just to be Happy Playing Tennis
In the aforementioned press conference, Naomi Osaka also opened up about how hard it is to just be happy playing tennis. Talking about her specifically, she revealed that she is a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to tennis, as she has been playing since a very young age. However, she said that she is now trying to let go and take every day as a new experience:
“I think that answer changes based on who you ask. For me, I’m a little bit of a perfectionist, only when it comes to tennis, though, because I have been playing since I was so young, and I want things to go a certain way, because that’s how I practice. But I’m learning how to let go and kind of just take every day as a new adventure.”
She added:
“So it’s a little easier now to be happy, especially since I’m getting older (smiling). So, you know, these joints don’t work like they used to, but yeah, I’m just happy to have been able to play on Stadium 2 and play a night match, which was really fun.”
Before Indian Wells, Naomi Osaka competed at the Australian Open, where she had to withdraw from the third round due to an injury.
Read More Tennis News:
1. Coco Gauff & Frances Tiafoe Explain Clearly Why Emma Raducanu’s Coaching Approach At Indian Wells Isn’t For Them
3. Novak Djokovic Reacts To Serena Williams’ Possible Comeback To Tennis
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