Novak Djokovic’s wife calls Naomi Osaka ‘disrespectful’ for incident with Sorana Cirstea at Australian Open

Jelena Djokovic, the wife of tennis legend Novak, has launched a stinging attack on Naomi Osaka for the Japanese superstar’s involvement in a frosty exchange with Sorana Cirstea.

Two-time champion Osaka defeated Cirstea in a tight three-set battle on Thursday night, but the match was overshadowed by a frosty handshake at the net and war of words.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Naomi Osaka apologises after on-court spat.

Osaka quizzed Cirstea about her reaction, before the Romanian appeared to say: “You don’t know what fair play is”.

Osaka then rolled her eyes and smiled in disbelief at the situation.

Cirstea was frustrated during the third set when Osaka was saying “c’mon” to herself while returning, including between first and second serves.

Osaka addressed the frosty incident in her on-court interview

“Apparently a lot of c’mons that she was angry about, but whatever,” Osaka said, which drew an interesting reaction from the crowd.

“She’s a great player. I think this was her last Australian Open, so ... I’m sorry she was mad about it.”

She later apologised for causing any “disrespect” with her on-court comments.

Djokovic, who was a tennis player in her youth but never pursued a professional career, later weighed in on the incident, saying Osaka was “disrespectful” for her actions between Cirstea’s serves and was surprised the umpire didn’t intervene.

“I’m surprised that this is not being called a hindrance. In between two serves, when crowds are applauding or shouting, the chair ump asks not shout between serves as it is disturbing to the player,” she wrote in an Instagram comment.

“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 chair/ Naomi thought that was fair ?! Were there any rule changes that I missed?”

In a follow-up comment, Djokovic explained Osaka was likely intending to provoke with her actions.

“There’s nothing wrong with pumping yourself up, and that’s not even the point of this comment, sorry I wasn’t clear enough, she continued.

“It is about when and how. She as a professional player would know that it is definitely NOT in between first and second 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.”

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova also questioned Osaka’s actions.

“I can get what (Osaka) said after the match because it’s kind of in the heat of the moment — she was surprised by Cirstea’s reaction at the handshake,” Navratilova said on the Tennis Channel.

“But you cannot be talking out loud between first and second serves of your opponent.

“Cirstea was ready to hit the second serve, and Osaka said ‘come on’ — that’s not right. I don’t think she does it on purpose; she doesn’t realise it.

“You can say ‘come on’ all you want, but keep it inside, do not verbalise it.”

Osaka insisted she was just pumping herself up.

“But, like, when I’m pumping myself up, in my head I’m not like, ‘Okay, now I’m going to distract the other person.’ It’s purely for me,” she said post-match.

Osaka also said she had never had an opponent complain about her pump-ups, and the umpire had no issue.

Cirstea, who is retiring at year’s end, refused to buy into the discussion.

“I will not talk about that,” she said.

“... This is my last Australian Open and so, yeah, I think the moments are bigger to me than to talk about a five-second chat I had with Naomi at the end.

“No, there was no drama. It was just a five-second exchange between two players that have been on a tour for a long time. It stays between us.”