'Sorry, sorry, sorry!' - Naomi Osaka accidentally hits umpire with ferocious return at Australian Open

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 17/01/2022 at 06:30 GMT

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" Naomi Osaka exclaimed across the court after accidentally hitting the chair umpire with a wild return of serve at the Australian Open. Annabel Croft was on commentary for Eurosport at the time, and she was relieved to see the moment end in smiles. "Oh gosh! Oh dear! I thought it missed her," Croft said. "I thought it hit the board, but no. It hit her on the knee. Ouch!"

There was a nervy moment for Naomi Osaka as she struck the chair umpire on the leg with a vicious return in the first round of the Australian Open.

The defending champion and four-time Grand Slam winner did not have too many troubles in overpowering Camila Osorio to reach the second round at Melbourne Park on Monday.

But there was a temporary scare for the 24-year-old with the finish of the match in sight. She watched on in horror as a powerful, instinctive return whistled through the umpire's chair and hit her on the leg.

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While the ball struck the umpire, it did not injure her, thankfully, and she was able to laugh it off.

Osaka's reaction said it all as she looked on in a shocked fashion with her hand over her mouth.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" she exclaimed across the court.

"It's okay! But it was hard!" the umpire said in response.

Annabel Croft was on commentary for Eurosport at the time, and she was relieved to see the moment end in smiles.

"Oh, gosh! Oh, dear! I thought it missed her," Croft said.

"I thought it hit the board, but no. It hit her on the knee. Ouch! She is going to have a bruise there."

Highlights: Defending champion Osaka through to second round with comfortable win

Osaka has never lost in the opening round of the Australian Open and that continued in 2022 as she got her title defence underway by comfortably overcoming her Colombian opponent in straight sets on Rod Laver Arena.

She felt she put in a good performance, despite not knowing much about Osorio, who was making her main draw debut in Melbourne, going into the match. She came through it in 68 minutes.

"It always feels special for me to come back here," the two-time Australian Open winner said. "I played the warm-up tournament before the Grand Slam, and I have a lot of really good memories here. It feels really nice to start the year in this tournament.

"I think I played really well in the circumstances. I didn't really have any information on my opponent, but I thought she played amazingly. She was fighting for every point and I think that was really good quality. I'm sure we're going to see her on this court pretty frequently. Overall, I'm just really happy to be here.

"I really like hot conditions but I feel like every time I come here everyone is warm and welcoming. The crowd are all really nice so I'm sure that has an effect on me."

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