Osaka, Medvedev highlight Miami tourney

Naomi Osaka has always considered the Miami Open to be her home tournament, as she spent much of her childhood in Pembroke Pines, and a warm, welcoming crowd over the next few weeks is exactly what the former world No. 1 might need after a tearful exit from her last match.

The four-time Grand Slam champion, who has slipped to No. 78 in the rankings, burst into tears on the court at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, last week after being heckled by a spectator during her second-round loss to Veronika Kudermetiva.

Struggling to keep her composure, Osaka took a microphone and told the crowd, which rooted for her the entire match, that the heckler, who shouted, “Naomi, you suck!” after the opening game, brought back memories of video she had seen of Venus and Serena Williams being jeered at Indian Wells 21 years earlier.

The Williams sisters boycotted the tournament for 15 years after that incident.

“To be honest, I’ve gotten heckled before, and it didn’t really bother me,” Osaka said. “But, like, heckled here? I watched a video of Venus and Serena getting heckled here, and if you’ve never watched it, you should watch it. And I don’t know why, but it went into my head, and it got replayed a lot.”

Osaka has been vocal about mental health issues as she has battled depression and other emotional issues since reaching the global stage in 2018.

She arrived at the 2019 Miami Open as the No. 1 ranked player in the