NEW YORK: Naomi Osaka’s last Labubu as the US Open was going to be Osaka herself.
For Osaka, that was the real bummer about losing one match short of the final.
“Oh, don’t make me cry, man,” the four-time Grand Slam champion said during her press conference early Friday morning after her 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3 semifinal loss to Amanda Anisimova. “Oh my God, the most devastating question.”
Osaka had been toting a different version of the popular plush toy attached to her racket bag to each of her matches in Flushing Meadows. She gave them catchy names like Billie Jean Bling (for Billie Jean King), Althea Glitterson,” (a tribute to Althea Gibson ) and Arthur Flashe (as in Arthur Ashe, for whom the main US Open stadium is named.)
Had she been playing in Saturday’s final, Osaka said the Labubu would have been patterned after the green skirt she wore last year at the tournament she won in 2018 and 2020, which included a green bow over the white jacket she entered the court wearing.
“I would have had the bow, and I’m sick about it,” Osaka said. “Oh, my God, that’s like the worst thing. Honestly, I’m fine losing, but don’t ask me about this Labubu, man. Yeah, it would have been me.”
Labubu lament: Naomi Osaka says plush toy for the US Open final would’ve been Osaka herself
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Labubu lament: Naomi Osaka says plush toy for the US Open final would’ve been Osaka herself
- The four-time Grand Slam champion said during her press conference early Friday morning that was the worst part about losing to Amanda Anisimova in the semifinals
- Had she been playing in Saturday’s final, Osaka said the Labubu plush toy would have been patterned after the green skirt she wore last year
Real Madrid handed shock home loss as Celta Vigo spring surprise
- Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins
MADRID: Real Madrid suffered a shock 2-0 loss and finished with nine men against Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Sunday after Williot Swedberg scored an audacious goal with his heel and a second in stoppage time to leave the hosts four points off leaders Barcelona.
Swedish substitute Swedberg cleverly diverted a cross from Bryan Zaragoza past Thibaut Courtois in the 53rd minute to put Celta ahead and had an easy finish three minutes into added time, going around the goalkeeper to wrap up the points.
Real’s cause was not helped by the 64th minute dismissal of Fran Garcia, who picked up two yellow cards in 60 seconds, but they laid siege to the visitors’ goal for the last 20 minutes as Celta went into a defensive shell to hold onto their advantage.
Real defender Alvaro Carreras was also dismissed for two cautions, his second coming in stoppage time at the end of the game as the home side’s frustrations boiled over.
It was a second clean sheet in 15 league games this season for Celta, whose keeper Ionut Radu made a first-half save from Jude Bellingham’s header and stopped a second-half free-kick whipped in by Kylian Mbappe.
Real stay on 36 points from 16 games as Celta celebrated a first win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in 19 years, leaving the Galician club with 19 points.
“With the team they have and their quality, it’s difficult to match them, but we read the game well,” said Celta striker Borja Iglesias. “We had possession, we played in their half, we played a fantastic match.”
Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins.
Xabi Alonso’s stuttering Real team have now won only one of their last five league games as they await the midweek arrival of Manchester City in the Champions League.
Earlier on Sunday, Espanyol moved up to fifth as Roberto Fernandez’s first half penalty handed them a 1-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano as both sides finished with 10 men.
Elche’s Rafa Mir scored twice as they ran out 3-0 home winners over struggling Girona, while hosts Valencia and Sevilla remained in the bottom half of the table after a 1-1 draw.
