Tennis Controversies of the Week: Paula Badosa faces backlash for decision against Naomi Osaka; Alexander Zverev's words at Italian Open draw infuriated reactions, and more

Paula Badosa pulled out of her scheduled match against Naomi Osaka at the Italian Open 2025 a few hours before they were set to step on the court. Her extremely short notice regarding her decision to withdraw invited the fans' fury.

Alexander Zverev received backlash for his seemingly rude response during an on-court interview in Rome. Holger Rune wasn't impressed with the court conditions at the Italian Open and aired his frustrations regarding them.

Marta Kostyuk's decision to shake hands with Daria Kasatkina stirred up a controversy, while Alex de Minaur lost his cool following a spectator's frequent interruption during his match at the Italian Open. Here's quick rundown of the controversial moments of the week gone by in the world of tennis:

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#1. Paula Badosa faces flak for her last minute withdrawal from her match against Naomi Osaka

Paula Badosa has been dealing with a recurring injury for months now. She has been testing the waters for a comeback but hasn't been successful on that front. She entered the Italian Open and received a first-round bye as a seeded player. She was set to play Naomi Osaka in the second-round but withdrew from the tournament a few hours before their match.

Badosa did the same at Madrid Open and the Indian Wells Open. Noticing that this has become a pattern, she drew criticism for her actions from the tennis community, who felt that her actions were unfair to her opponents. The Spaniard's rivals prepare to compete against her but have to come up with a new game plan to counter her replacement on a short notice.

Osaka struggled against Badosa's replacement, Viktorijia Golubic, at the Italian Open. However, she staged a comeback from the brink of defeat to reach the next round. The Spaniard has entered next week's Strasbourg Open, though there's no guarantee on her participation just yet.

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#2. Alex de Minaur gets into a spat with a spectator at the Italian Open

Alex de Minaur at the Italian Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Alex de Minaur commenced his run at the Italian Open against Luca Nardi. Since his opponent was from the host nation, it was expected that the crowd would be against him. However, one unruly member from the audience forced the usually composed Aussie to lose his temper.

With the score tied at 4-4 in the first set, one particular person from the crowd interrupted the play while he was serving. De Minaur had enough of his shenanigans and asked the rowdy fan to check his behavior. He complained to the umpire about the same, who also intervened and issued a warning regarding such interruptions.

Despite the chaos, de Minaur maintained his focus and beat Nardi 6-4, 7-5. He will take on Hugo Dellien for a spot in the fourth round on Monday, May 12. He's bidding to make the last eight in Rome for the first time.

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#3. Alexander Zverev's curt response to an interviewer draws the ire of fans

Second seed Alexander Zverev commenced his title defense at the Italian Open with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Camilo Ugo Carabelli on Saturday, May 10. The German has underperformed at the Masters 1000 level this year, failing to win a match in two of them and not reaching the quarterfinals in any of them. However, he won the ATP 500 tournament in Munich a few weeks ago.

Following his win over Ugo Carabelli, the on-court interviewer also pointed this out to Zverev. This line of questioning didn't sit right with him and he issued a rather rude response:

"I mean, I didn't, but you know, I won a tournament two weeks ago, so I don't really like to think about it. That's your job thinking about stupid questions when the match is an hour long, so I'll leave it up to you," Zverev said.

While some fans defended Zverev, most of them were left appalled at his answer. They felt that he was unnecessarily rude to the interviewer, who had simply pointed out his recent results. The German will take on Arthur Fils in the fourth round on Tuesday, May 13, in a bid to reach his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal of the season.

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#4. Marta Kostyuk faces accusations of hypocrisy after shaking hands with Daria Kasatkina

Marta Kostyuk at the Italian Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, tennis players from Ukraine have refrained from engaging in the customary post-match handshake at the net against players from Russia and Belarus. Marta Kostyuk has been one of the most vocal critics of Russia's actions right from the start of the conflict.

Russia-born Daria Kasatkina recently switched nationalities and began representing Australia. She has also been one of the few Russian-origin players to criticize the actions of her birth country since the beginning.

Kostyuk commended Kasatkina for her bravery and since she opted to give up her Russian citizenship, she broke the protocol of snubbing the no-handshake rule for her. The two crossed paths in the second round of the Italian Open on Friday, May 9, and the two shook hands at the net once the match was done.

However, some fans accused Kostyuk of being a hypocrite for the same. Elina Avanesyan and Varvara Gracheva also gave up their Russian citizenship long before Kasatkina did to represent Armenia and France respectively. However, they never received this treatment. This double standard led to the Ukrainian facing heat from fans for her actions.

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#5. Holger Rune criticizes the court conditions at the Italian Open

Holger Rune staged a comeback to beat Francisco Comesana 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the Italian Open on Friday, May 9. Despite the win, the young Dane was far from pleased on account of the court conditions. He initially complained to the umpire about the same during the match.

Rune: new court is “dangerous” and “unplayable” byu/theriverjordan intennis

Rune further elaborated his concerns during his on-court interview and labeled the courts as "dangerous" and "unplayable".

"I found the conditions very, very difficult on this court. It’s a new court. It was very tough to move, I think it’s dangerous for the players to play on this court. But I got through, and I am very happy I got through,” Rune said.

"It is before the French Open, and we don’t want to risk injuries. I honestly think it’s not playable. That’s my opinion. I am from Denmark, and in Denmark, at the beginning of the clay season, we really know what not-ready clay courts look like, so trust me,” he added.

Rune's campaign in Rome concluded in the third round with a loss to Corentin Moutet on Sunday, May 11. He will head to Germany for the Hamburg European Open next week, his final tournament on clay before the French Open.