Tennis star Naomi Osaka reveals the ‘disturbing’ story behind a message she scrawled on a camera after her Australian Open semi-final win
- Naomi Osaka scribbled bizarre message to sister Mari after semi-final win
- Later explained in interview her sister often sent bizarre images on groupchat
- On track to win second Australian Open title after beating childhood idol
The mystery behind tennis star Naomi Osaka’s bizarre post-match message scribbled on a television lens following her stunning Australian Open semi-final win has been explained.
The Japanese women’s world number three, 23, is in her second Melbourne grand slam final in three years after dominating childhood idol and US superstar Serena Williams in straight sets on Thursday.
Osaka sent tennis viewers around the world into meltdown with a peculiar message aimed at her older sister Mari back home following her post-match interview on court.
Naomi Osaka (pictured) was all smiles after defeating Serena Williams in straight sets
‘Mari stop sending werid (sic) images in the groupchat!’ she signed off on a television lens.
Osaka later explained her sister Mari, 24, who’s also a tennis player, often sends disturbing messages in their group chat.
‘She sends really weird images and apparently I spelled ‘weird’ wrong so my bad,’ she told Eurosport.
‘She sends really strange images in the group chat to me and my friends. Sometimes it’s a bit disturbing but we love her either way.’
Her sister hit back with an Instagram story with one of the bizarre images of an eyeball being licked.
Naomi Osaka (pictured) scribbled a bizarre message on a camera lens aimed at her sister
‘To the ppl asking what I send in the gc,’ Mari captioned the now-deleted Instagram story.
Osaka will meet US young gun Jennifer Brady in the final on Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night after ending Williams’ quest for a 24th grand slam title to level Australian great Margaret Court’s record.
‘I was a little kid watching her play and just to be on the court playing against her is a dream,’ Osaka said.
‘It’s like always a surreal moment, just to see her in real life, like close up, because I rarely see her.’
Naomi Osaka revealed sister Mari often posts bizarre images (left) in groupchats
Osaka is a hot favourite to win her fourth grand slam and second Australian Open after she won the tournament in 2019.
‘I just hit a lot of unforced errors in the first few games and I was just, like, really nervous and scared in the beginning and then I sort of eased my way into it,’ she told Channel Nine’s Jim Courier after her semi-final.
‘For me, I think the biggest thing is just having fun and it’s the first day having the crowd in a while.’
Naomi Osaka (left) defeated her childhood idol Serena Williams (right) in their semi final showdown on Thursday