Naomi Osaka's 'justice' after Serena 'robbed' her US Open moment
Four months ago Naomi Osaka was crying tears of sadness rather than tears of joy, despite the fact she’d just won her maiden grand slam title.
But according to American tennis great Jim Courier, Saturday night’s Australian Open title was ‘justice’ for the Japanese star.
BEAUTIFUL: Petra Kvitova breaks down in heart-wrenching runner-up speech
Osaka is the undisputed new dominant force in women’s tennis after edging Petra Kvitova in a drama-charged Australian Open final at Melbourne Park.
However the drama was a bit different to that of the US Open final last September.
Osaka’s historic triumph at Flushing Meadows became an afterthought because of Serena Williams’ infamous blow-up at the chair umpire.
As AAP writer Darren Walton put it, Osaka was “robbed of the spotlight by Williams after her extraordinary meltdown.”
But Courier says Osaka now has ‘justice’ after storming into the spotlight all by herself.
“This match was a wonderful example of everything that’s right with tennis and Naomi Osaka’s going to get that moment that will be uncluttered, there’ll be no problems associated with this win in the same way that coming out of the US Open there was so much drama and so much focus on Serena and the chair umpire that she was largely underlooked in this seminal moment in her life,” Courier said.
“And suddenly in this very next major there’s some justice in some ways, the fact that she’s going to get this glory now and it’s going to be all hers.”
Sam Smith said the tennis world needed to see such a contest.
“I think we needed a sporting final, particularly on an arena that was named after Rod Laver, not just because of his achievements but because of how he conducts himself, and we certainly got that tonight,” Smith said.
In denying Kvitova an emotional third grand slam title and securing back-to-back majors of her own, the 21-year-old supplanted Simona Halep to become the youngest player to scale the summit of women’s tennis since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010.
“I’m beyond excited to become the new WTA world No.1,” Osaka said.
“I’ve always dreamt of being in this position.”
Ranked 72nd this time last year, Osaka is also the first woman since Serena in 2015 to land successive majors, backing up her stunning breakthrough over the American superstar in last year’s US Open final with a stylish encore at Rod Laver Arena.
Osaka threatened to mentally unravel after losing 18 of 22 points from 5-3 and 40-love up on Kvitova’s serve in the second set.
But Asia’s new sporting superstar regained her cool to take the deciding set, the match, the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup and $4.1 million winner’s cheque after two hours and 27 minutes.
“I told myself you could do nothing about it,” Osaka said of her mid-match wobble.
“I just told myself that it is a final and I am playing against Petra and she is a great champion. I can’t let myself act immature in a way. I should be grateful to be here and that is what I tried to be.”
with AAP