Novak Djokovic’s wife, Jelena Djokovic, weighed in on the Australian Open drama between Japanese star Naomi Osaka and Romania’s Sorana Cirstea following their Thursday match, according to a screen-grabbed comment making rounds online.
Jelena appeared to side with Cirstea, who accused Osaka of causing distractions between serves during her 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 defeat in the second round of the year’s first Grand Slam.
“Hmm, I’m surprised that this is not being called hindrance,” Jelena, 39, wrote, under a video of the players’ arguing by the net after the match at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne.
“In between 2 serves, when crowds are applauding or shouting, the chair ump asks not to shout between serves as it is disturbing to the player. The point is not finished. Sorana missed her first serve and is focusing on getting in the second, it is a slight pause. And it is disrespectful to applaud at someone’s first serve mistake too.
“I am surprised that the chair / Naomi thought that was fair?! Were there any rule changes that I missed?!”
Jelena added in another comment: “There’s nothing wrong with pumping yourself up, and that’s not even the point of this comment, sorry I wasn’t clear enough.
“It is about when and how. She as a professional player would know that it is definitely NOT in between 1st and 2nd serve of your opponent.
“Unless you want to provoke. In this case, I don’t see why she is acting surprised at the end that Sorana got provoked. Naomi is being cheered on by her fans for pumping herself, great. I just didn’t see her ever doing this to another player so I thought it was a rule change or something.”
After Osaka ended Cirstea’s final Australian Open — she announced last December that she is retiring after her 20th WTA season — the pair shook hands and exchanged words in front of the umpire chair.
Cirstea was apparently upset with Osaka’s repeated moments of cheering herself out loud, yelling “c’mon” during the match.
“Apparently a lot of ‘c’mons’ that she was angry about, but whatever,” Osaka said afterwards of Cirstea. “I mean, I tried to play well, I tried my best. She’s a great player. I think this was her last Australian Open, so, OK, sorry she was mad about it.”
Osaka was visibly emotional when asked to explain pumping herself up.
“She could have asked me [to stop] … I’m sorry,” the two-time Australian Open champion said.
“Honestly … no one’s ever complained about it before. Also, the umpire didn’t tell me I was wrong. The umpire said I was fine. Like, I thought we moved past it.”
Osaka apologized again and said she was open to talking with Cirstea.
“I guess that emotions were very high for her. I also want to apologize,” Osaka said. “I think the first couple things that I said on the court was disrespectful. I don’t like disrespecting people. That’s not what I do.”
Cirstea played down the incident, saying there “was no drama” with Osaka.
“There was no drama. It was just a five-second exchange between two players that have been on tour for a long time,” she said. “It stays between us.”
Osaka plays Maddison Inglis in the third round of the 2026 Australian Open.
