Just a week ago, at the Canadian Open, Naomi Osaka entered the final against the local underdog, Victoria Mboko, blazing fire. She swept the first set 6-2 against her unnerved 18-year-old opponent. However, Mboko controlled the next two sets to sweep the title 2-6, 6-4, 6-1. In a more surprising twist, a disappointed Osaka, who reached an ATP 1000 major final after three years, left the court for 12 minutes until the prize ceremony. What followed in her runner-up speech, though, was more dramatic.

“I don’t really wanna take up too much time. I’ll just say thank you to everyone. Thank you to my team, the ball kids, organizers, & volunteers. I hope you guys had a good night.” All the while, Mboko’s eyes were looking for some praise from her idol. In her run, she had bested the likes of top-seeded Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina. But the appreciation did not come. Rennae Stubbs immediately tweeted, “2 not congratulate Vicky, who’s looked up to u her whole career & just won this massive 🏆 was sad.” Although Osaka accepted forgetting Mboko and acknowledged her efforts later, it was too little too late for Stubbs, and she’s not done yet.

Everyone’s focused on the upcoming US Open. But Stubbs wanted to discuss Naomi Osaka’s post-loss speech. In her Monday’s The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Serena Williams’ former coach told her co-host Caitlin, “Anyone who follows me on the socials knows how I felt about it. I don’t like to rip on players. I was a terrible loser myself, I’ll be quite honest. The one thing you always do, I mean, unless you absolutely, and even when I absolutely hated the person I lost to, you begrudgingly, the words still have to come out of your mouth.

“‘Congratulations to X. Well done. What a great week, and to your team.’ That’s it. If you hate them, that’s enough. But to forget, quote unquote, is what she said. I’m like, ‘Honey, you didn’t forget. You just want to get off the stage. You hated every second of it.’ The WTA supervisor had to go and find her because she left the court and was not coming back to the trophy ceremony. It took them 12 minutes.”

Accepting loss gracefully was especially required in this matchup. Victoria Mboko had a magical run and looked up to the Japanese star. Ironically enough, when Osaka first learned about being Mboko’s idol in her presser after the semifinals win, she had promised, “I guess I have to have a really good attitude tomorrow. I can’t let her not like me anymore.” But to Stubbs, Naomi Osaka’s post-match gesture was anything but ‘good’ as a player who has played almost 341 matches on the Tour.

Even though it was too late to make amends, Osaka did congratulate the winner on the run. She skipped the post-match press conference and only sent the message, “I think Victoria played really well. I completely forgot to congratulate her on court. Yeah, I mean, she did really amazing.”

Osaka might have forgotten about the winner, as losing to an 18-year-old was an uncomfortable thought for her, Mboko did say something about her idol.

Victoria Mboko shares her thoughts on Naomi Osaka not attending the post-match press conference

Naomi Osaka’s on-court interview drew its fair share of critics, but Andy Roddick was not one of them. While he acknowledged that athletes (winners and losers) across sports have to face post-game press conferences, hardly any sport has a turnaround period that is as short as tennis. And her opponent was more than okay with it.

Victoria Mboko thanked Naomi Osaka for the incredible match. She also repeated looking up at Osaka as her childhood idol. So, playing against her in a final was a memorable moment for her. Later on, during the press conference, when she was asked to share her thoughts on Osaka snubbing the post-match press conference, she said, “If that was her wish, then I respect it as well. I mean, I still think Naomi is an incredible player, and it doesn’t ever change what I think of her. I think she’s still a really nice girl. I still look up to her.”

Osaka’s past post-loss interviews are proof enough that she doesn’t take the heat-of-the-moment comments well. So, it was seemingly better for her to leave instead of facing the media right after losing to Mboko. The sentiment was shared by Andy Roddick.

“I’m pretty sure Patrick Mahomes didn’t have to stand on the Super Bowl stage and say something nice about his opponent in the immediate aftermath of the game and during their ceremony,” argued Roddick in a recent episode of his Served podcast. “It’s like I don’t know, like someone’s worst day at work ever, if you put a microphone in front of them, they would say some regrettable [ __ ] or not say or not say enough good stuff like that happens, and apparently people you know are perfect in their worst moments and disagree.”

The Canadian has shown that she is not just graceful in letting go of such unrequited drama, but also her sportsmanship in being grateful to her opponent. The Osaka-Mboko Canadian chapter, though, doesn’t seem to end for now. What are your thoughts on this controversial incident, though?