Naomi Osaka Emotionally Explains Why She Felt Compelled To Apologize For Beating Serena
After her incredible victory at the U.S. Open, champion Naomi Osaka has shed light on the emotional moment she apologized to her Finals opponent, Serena Williams, for winning.
In an interview with NBC's Today on Monday, Osaka explained how monumental it was to play Williams and how she felt when the drama went down with the umpire.
"I didn't really know what was going on 'cause I went to the back and I had my back turned," she said. "And then before I knew it, she was saying there was a game penalty, so I was a little bit confused throughout the whole thing."
When asked why Osaka felt the need to apologize for her win, she said she did it because everyone seemed "unhappy"
"I felt like everyone was sort of unhappy about up there, and ... the ending wasn’t what people wanted it to be," she said. "In my dreams, I won in a very competitive match, so I don’t know. I just felt very emotional, and I felt like I had to apologize.”
Osaka also opened up about how it felt to hear the booing from the crowd
"I felt a little bit sad because I wasn’t really sure if they were booing at me or if it wasn’t the outcome that they wanted. I also could sympathize because I’ve been a fan of Serena my whole life. And I knew how badly the crowd wanted her to win. I don’t know, I was just really emotional up there," she said.
Right after her victory, Osaka was extremely emotional when reflecting about playing her idol
For now, Osaka would like to re-watch the match so she is able to fully form an opinion about the confrontation between Williams and the umpire.
"I'm not really that 100 percent sure because I kind of haven't really had time to look too much at the news," she said. "I've been going all over the place, so I can't really form an opinion right now."
"I want to watch everything and I want to know what happened because this is sort of one of the biggest things that happened to me," she concluded.
Naomi Osaka's full interview on the 'Today Show' can be seen below
