Australian Open star Destanee Aiava has spoken out after constantly being mistaken for fellow WTA Tour ace Naomi Osaka.
Aiava progressed into the second round of her home Grand Slam with a 2-1 victory over Belgian player Greet Minnen in game one.
As a reward for her win, the 24-year-old will come up against world No.11 Danielle Collins for a spot in round three on Wednesday.
But ahead of her match-up against the American, Aiava has questioned why she keeps getting confused for four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka.
Taking to social media to vent about the problem, Aiava said: “Why are people commenting and mistaking me for Naomi Osaka (i love her don’t come for me) like I’m genuinely confused why multiple people are getting me mixed up with her ??????????”
Aiava won’t mind as much if she can begin replicating Osaka on the court, as she’s never made it beyond the first round of a singles Grand Slam draw.
Life is unlikely to be made much easier with Collins next up on the horizon, as the 30-year-old looked comfortable in her straight-sets victory against Daria Snigur in round one.
Collins shouldn’t have the same issue she had against Snigur, where her match didn’t finish until late in the Australian evening, given the Aiava encounter is scheduled for the afternoon local time.
Commenting on her late finish against Snigur, she said: “I feel like it’s past my bedtime to be honest. I’m just happy to be awake right now. I love playing these night matches and love the energy everybody brings. I’m certainly not a night owl. So thank you guys for coming out an supporting.”
On her opponent, she added: “She’s [Snigur] really great at getting down low and getting those fast balls back on my feet. I just had to be relentless and keep going after it.”
It was somewhat of a surprise for the Melbourne locals to see Collins back at the Australian Open, given she had announced her plans to retire at last year’s edition.
Backtracking on the announcement later in 2024, Collins was asked about her future plans in tennis after Monday’s match. She said: “Yeah, I mean I’d like to start a family but that’s not in the cards right now. So, yeah, I don’t know what to say to that.”