"Racism at its finest";"Insane mischaracterization": Fans tear into 'bigoted' insider for accusing Naomi Osaka of going 'ballistic' at Australian Open

Naomi Osaka being accused of going 'ballistic' and losing her cool in the second round of the 2025 Australian Open has angered tennis fans. Osaka has previously won the Melbourne Major twice - first in 2019 by defeating Petra Kvitova in the final and then in 2021 by triumphing over Jennifer Brady in the championship match.

Osaka kicked off her 2025 season with a strong performance at the ASB Classic in Auckland, finishing as a runner-up. She then moved on to Melbourne, where she started her campaign by defeating Caroline Garcia 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round. In the second round, she faced off against 20th seed Karolina Muchova and emerged victorious with a score of 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the third round.

However, during her match against Muchova, Naomi Osaka had expressed her frustration with a Hawk-Eye line call. This led tennis insider David Law to describe her behavior as "ballistic" and "crazy."

“She went ballistic. Went crazy towards the umpire. She went charging up to the umpire and she said ‘that ball was out!’ And she showed how far out it was with her hands,” Law said.

The comments made by Law against Osaka did not sit well with the tennis fans, who took to social media to express their anger and opinions on the same.

One fan called David Law's remarks "racism at its finest," while another pointed out that labeling Osaka as "ballistic" and "crazy" was a gross "mischaracterization."

“Racism at its finest!" a fan posted.

“This is one of the most insane mischaracterizations I’ve heard," a fan wrote.

Several fans accused Law of "racism and misogyny."

“Misogyny and racism from a BRITISH tennis podcast isn’t surprising but it’s honestly enraging how most of tennis media, journalism, establishment to the fans are similarly reactionary and bigoted," a fan posted.

“Trying to push the angry black woman trope on naomi osaka of all ppl…. these ppl need to be shot," a fan wrote.

Here are some other fan reactions :

“Cant say im surprised at a wild mischaracterisation of something from TTP but this is genuinely crazy 😭 ," a fan posted.

“Sorry Naomi should sue for cease and desist. This is the most false mis-characterization of an incident. @TennisPodcast should be cited for click bait," a fan wrote.

““The angry black woman” trope! Lol, only this is Naomi Osaka and we know the kind of energy she carries, And this description couldn’t be further from what we know!" a fan posted.

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Naomi Osaka will face Belinda Bencic in Australian Open 2025 3R

In Picture: Naomi Osaka at the 2025 Australian Open [Image Source: Getty Images]

Naomi Osaka will go head-to-head with Belinda Bencic in the third round of the 2025 Australian Open. The two players have met five times on the WTA Tour, with the Swiss emerging victorious in three of those encounters.

Osaka and Bencic's most recent match-up took place in the semifinals of the 2022 Miami Open, where the former staged an impressive comeback to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. She then went on to finish as the runner-up, losing to Iga Swiatek in the final.

Bencic had used protected ranking to secure her spot in the main draw of the Melbourne Major. She kicked off her campaign by defeating 16th seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 7-6(6) in the first round and followed it up with a second-round victory over Suzan Lamens with a score of 6-1, 7-6(3) to secure her place in the third round where she will take on the two-time Australian Open champion.

The winner of the third-round match between Naomi Osaka and Belinda Bencic will advance to potentially face either third seed Coco Gauff or 30th seed Leylah Fernandez in the fourth round of the 2025 Australian Open.