Nick Kyrgios has made his feelings clear on Naomi Osaka amid Canadian Open final fallout

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has already made his feelings clear on Naomi Osaka after the Japanese was criticised following her shock Canadian Open final defeat to teenager Victoria Mboko on Thursday (August 7).

Osaka, 27, suffered a shock 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat against Canadian Mboko, 18, in Montreal and was widely criticised for her behaviour following the match.

Shortly after the final, Osaka failed to congratulate her rookie opponent despite Mboko even explaining how the Japanese player was one of her idols when she was a child.

"I've always looked up to her since I was really little," Mboko said. "So it's always great to play with such an amazing player like you."

Meanwhile, Osaka kept her answers short and sweet. The 27-year-old thanked the crowd, organisers and volunteers in Montreal, but there was no mention of her opponent, much to the dismay of fans watching on.

Victoria Mboko defeated Naomi Osaka (Credit:Getty)

The Japanese star said: "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, organisers, & volunteers. I hope you guys had a good night.”

However, Osaka did later address the issue through written quotes, which read: “I don't know why my emotions slipped so quickly, but I'm really happy to have played the final. I think Victoria played really well. I completely forgot to congratulate her on court. Yeah, she did really amazing."

So, what does the eccentric and outspoken Kyrgios make of Osaka?

Well, although he has not commented on the Canadian Open situation, the Australian previously mentioned Osaka when talking about the racist abuse he has received throughout his career.

Speaking via TNT Sports in March 2025, he said: “I feel like I'm just resilient. If someone is not as resilient as me mentally, the amount of hate I got, the amount of racism I got, the amount of bulls**t that I got from the tour, from fans, from everything, I could have been.”

Nick Kyrgios and Naomi Osaka in 2022 (Credit:Getty)

He added: “I did fall into places where people like Naomi Osaka are now speaking about mental illness, where I was going through, in my personal opinion, 20 times as bad. All they receive is good press. They don't really receive hateful messages. They don't really receive ridiculously historic fines for hitting balls out of the stadium or getting a code violation.”

Also, back in October 2022, Kyrgios described Osaka as “an amazing athlete” and praised what she brings to the sport.

As quoted by Tennis 365, the Australian said: “I think she’s an amazing athlete. She can play some great tennis, but what she can do off the court is even more inspirational. She has so many people looking up to her. She inspires millions of people, and I think that’s something that I bring, as well.”