Naomi Osaka asks for clarification on opponent's name, still gets it wrong in Australian Open acceptance speech

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Naomi Osaka may be a winner on the hard court, but when it comes to playing the name game, the tennis superstar is far from a champion.

After winning her fourth career Grand Slam title in dominant fashion at the 2021 Australian Open, the 23-year-old suffered a slip up on one of her sport's biggest stages.

Osaka misidentified her opponent — American Jenny Brady — even after publicly checking in with her about her preferred name.

Osaka stepped to the podium at Rod Laver Arena to deliver her acceptance speech following her 6-4, 6-3 win. But before she launched into a series of thank-yous, the Japanese international turned over her shoulder to ask Brady whether she prefers to be called "Jenny or Jennifer."

"Jenny," Brady replied with a smile and a nod.

"Okay," Osaka said, before getting it wrong anyway. "Firstly, I want to congrat Jennifer."

The two-time Australian Open champion and winner of four of the last six hardcourt Grand Slams proceeded past the error without note, lauding Brady for her abilities and hard work. She even took time to call her a "problem."

"We played in the semis of the US Open, so a couple months ago," Osaka said. "I told everyone that would listen that you're gonna be a problem, and I was right."

"For me, it's really hard to play you," she added. "And to see your growth over the last couple months is really cool."

Still, fans caught Osaka's blunder and took to Twitter to highlight the unfortunate, yet hilarious, mistake.

Check out the clip of Osaka's awkward slip of the tongue below:

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