‘The sarcasm is beautiful’: Osaka backs Russian bad boy Medvedev in running battle with US Open fans

Women’s two-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka has revealed she’s enjoying the antics of tennis bad boy Daniil Medvedev and his running battle with US Open fans, calling the Russian’s sarcastic post-match interviews “beautiful.”

Top seed Osaka crashed out of the tournament in straight sets to Swiss ace Belinda Bencic on Monday, ending her chances of retaining the title she won a year ago by beating Serena Williams in their controversial final. 

READ MORE: Defending champion Naomi Osaka OUT of US Open after defeat to Swiss star Bencic

The 21-year-old Japanese star put an upbeat spin on the result in her post-match media commitments, saying she was “not that mad” – but also had words for men’s star Medvedev, who is into the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows and has hit the headlines for his antics trolling the New York crowd.

Medvedev’s villainous persona has either been pure box-office or needlessly petulant, depending on how you look at it – but Osaka revealed she is a fan when asked after her match against Bencic why she had been ‘liking’ tweets about Medvedev’s interviews.

“I don't know the background of why [the crowd] are booing him, but it's just so funny,” Osaka said.

“Every day, he has something new to say, like, he wins and then he's, like, ‘Because of you guys I have the energy. I was so, like, injured coming into this match, but because of you, Thank you.’

“He says the ‘thank you’ so nicely… It's just funny to me. The sarcasm is beautiful,” Osaka added.

The Russian fifth seed was engaged in a running battle with fans in his third-round match after he was booed for snatching a towel from a ball boy before giving the crowd the middle-finger.

He then sarcastically thanked jeering fans after the game for “giving me the energy to win.”

Medvedev repeated the trick after his fourth-round win against Germany’s Dominik Koepfer, telling the crowd: “You guys, being against me, you gave me so much energy to win. Thank you.”

Medvedev was fined $9,000 for his behavior in the third round: $5,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct and a $4,000 sanction for a visible obscenity.    

READ MORE: Russia’s Medvedev fined after ball-boy antics, middle-finger gesture in fiesty US Open 3rd-round win

After his fourth-round victory he said he was merely “engaging with the crowd” and that “hopefully it was fun for them and for me.”

Medvedev will have a long way to go to match Nick Kyrgios – the man with tennis’ biggest bad boy tag – but the Aussie revealed on social media that he was also loving the Russian’s defiant attitude.

“Hahaha I rateeeee what medvedev said to the crowd last night,” the 24-year-old tweeted after the third round.  

Medvedev will be appearing in his first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal when he takes on Swiss former US Open winner Stan Wawrinka at Arthur Ashe stadium on Tuesday night.

Wawrinka overcame defending champion Novak Djokovic in the last round, when the Serb was forced to retire injured while trailing two sets to none.

Watch out for more fun and frolics when the Medvedev versus Wawrinka match gets underway.