The woman who heckled Rafael Nadal on Rod Laver Arena has zero regrets after gaining worldwide attention for her astonishing attack on the Spanish athlete.
Everyone in the arena was left stunned after the rogue spectator took it upon herself to liven up proceedings during Nadal’s second round win over American qualifier Michael Mmoh, forcing play to stop as security escorted her out.
Just before Nadal was gearing up to serve, the woman yelled out: “Hurry up, you OCD f***.”
She then flipped Nadal the bird.
The star was stunned but managed to see the funny side as he laughed it off, later suggesting the offender may have had a bit too much “gin and tequila” before her brazen stunt.
The woman appeared on radio on Friday morning to explain her version of events, showing absolutely no remorse for hijacking events on centre court.
“I’m certainly not a fan of Nadal, I think he’s boring and he goes through all those OCD rituals all the time,” she told Neil Mitchell on 3AW.
“The very fact pictures of me have gone viral around the world reflects on how incredibly boring his matches are, because why would you want to focus on a spectator?
“It’s a bit embarrassing. When I woke up this morning I had messages and phone calls from all sorts of different people.
“It’s probably not a great look for me but you know, what can I do? What’s done is done.
“I just called out, ‘Get over your OCD rituals’ as he was serving, and then he looked at me, and that’s when I flicked him the bird.
“My daughter wasn’t too happy because I’m so embarrassing.
“I was going for the other guy actually because so many people seem to go for Nadal.”
The woman denied Nadal’s hypothesis she was enjoying gin or tequila, saying she only had one “glass of bubbly” all day.
“Alcohol does make one become less inhibited but I’m pretty much like that anyway,” she said. “I’m a bit out there.”
Calling herself a “tennis aficionado” who comes down to Melbourne from Sydney every year for the Australian Open, the woman wasn’t a fan of the way security handled the situation even though she had quickly become the most unpopular person at Melbourne Park.
“They were very rude. They said, ‘Right, you have to go’ and I said, ‘Why? I’m a spectator, I’ve paid for my tickets, why aren’t I allowed to be a bit vocal?’” the woman told Mitchell.
This article originally appeared on Over60.