Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka became the women’s Australian Open champ in a decisive match against Petra Kvitova on Saturday night – and then got to celebrate with a “dumpster fire” interview by sports broadcaster Tony Jones.
First off, Jones admired Osaka’s ability to carry her trophy from the court to the studio: “all that way!”
Tony Jones asking Osaka how she “managed to carry” her trophy all the way to the studio is ordinary.
Tone, she could prob bench press you.#ausopen
— Darcy Vescio (@darcyvee) January 26, 2019
Then, as the 21-year-old champ grinned politely while she cast about for a polite response, Jones said, “There’s that smile!”
Tony Jones (leaning right in close): THERE'S A SMILE!
Naomi (jumping back in her seat): I'm always smiling. pic.twitter.com/CmVOszT3tN— Frith ?? (@pluckyloser) January 26, 2019
Anyone know how often Novak Djokovic gets told to smile more?
Next, Jones asked Osaka how she planned to spend the prize money, a cheque for $4.1 million, and suggested she could “pump some of that back into the economy”.
Because women be shopping, amirite?
He even began a question by asking “You regard yourself as Japanese…”
Mate, she is Japanese. Her half-Haitian parentage and American accent have been oddly confusing for a lot of people, but she represents Japan, and it’s literally his job to know what country people are from.
Come on, her last name’s Osaka – it’s like an Aussie player being called Naomi Melbourne.
John McEnroe joked about seeing Rafa Nadal's old fella the other day.
Somehow that will be a distant second (or third) after Tony Jones' dumpster fire of an effort with Naomi Osaka just now. #AusOpen
— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) January 26, 2019
Many people were wondering why Jones was leading the interview with Osaka when he was sitting right next to Jim Courier.
Thank you @wwos @Channel9 for imposing Tony Jones upon Naomi and all of us. Enjoy it going internationally viral having that gibbering buffoon asking the world #1 about smiling and shopping while the best interviewer in world tennis just sits there. #AusOpen
— James Nankivell (@JamesNanks) January 26, 2019
That awful moment you realise you have to be interviewed by Tony Jones pic.twitter.com/0Bk4pbEQw6
— TwoEyeHead? (@TwoEyeHead) January 26, 2019
Jones had also been criticised for the wildly awkward moment where he forgot there are Asian people at the Asia-Pacific region’s Grand Slam tournament:
How’s that winner Naomi O ..
she’s European Tony ?Jones: I think you’ll find she’s Swedish Tom ! pic.twitter.com/nX9j9Ly5vI
— Peter Bell (@PeterBell7) January 26, 2019
Osaka’s already had her first Grand Slam win marred by the controversy over opponent Serena Williams’ attitude, and her Australian Open run also saw a whitewashing controversy in her native Japan, where an anime-style noodle ad depicted her as a pale-skinned woman.
Jones’ comments are reminiscent of the incident at the 2018 Ballon D’Or ceremony, where the first ever women’s prize winner was asked (jokingly) to twerk onstage.
So in a five minute interview, Tony Jones quizzed the World No. 1, two-time Grand Slam champion, Naomi Osaka, on:
– Shopping
– Smiling
– How she managed to carry the trophy
– "Regarding herself" as Japanese.
As if Channel Nine's coverage wasn't insulting enough… #ausopen— Lachlan Kilby (@LachieKilby) January 26, 2019
Tony Jones interviews champion Naomi Ōsaka: How did you lift that heavy trophy? Give us a smile. Where are you going shopping tomorrow? Beyond embarrassing – rude, patronising, boring, awkward #AusOpen2019 #ausopen @Channel9
— Kathryn Powley (@KathrynPowley) January 26, 2019
It’s just not that hard, lads: if you’re interviewing a woman who is good at the sports, just ask her the same questions you’d ask a dude who is good at the sports.
She’s a professional – you should be too.
Anyway, in unrelated news, here’s a video of that time Jones tried to smooch a colleague and got shut down entirely.
