MELBOURNE, Australia – The trouble for Naomi Osaka during Grand Slam tournaments comes in Week 1. However, if she goes beyond the stage at the majors, you need to prepare her to etch her name on the trophy.
Osaka won their fourth title in their last eight matches in a slam, evident from the initial Australian Open final, and started by tackling six consecutive matches to beat Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday.
With a strong delivery that yielded six baits, Osaka improved to 4-0 in the grand final, the first woman to start her career that way since Monica Seles did so 30 years ago. For Osaka, it is so far part of a 12-0 record in the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals on the majors.
“She played really well when she had to,” Brady said. “She hit good shots when she needed them.”
Osaka, the AP female athlete of the year in 2020, is also in a winning streak of 21 matches dating to last season. This includes a championship in last year’s US Open. She also won the US Open in 2018 and the Australian Open in 2019.
“Tonight it was not meant to be,” Brady said after taking part in her first Grand Slam final at the age of 25. “Hopefully there are many more.”
The 23-year-old Osaka was born in Japan as a Japanese mother and Haitian father and moved to the United States with her family at the age of three.
She was selected as no. 3 in Melbourne Park and is now assured she will move to number 2.
Only two active women own more Slam titles than Osaka: Serena Williams, 23, and her sister, Venus, seven.
The next task for Osaka is to improve clay and grass: she has never been past the third round at the French Open or Wimbledon.
“She’s such an inspiration to us all, and what she’s doing for the game is amazing to get the sport out there,” said Brady, an American who was seeded 22nd. “I hope young girls look at home and are inspired by what she does.”
Brady had to go through a hard quarantine for 15 days when she arrived in Australia in January because someone on her flight tested positive for COVID-19 when they arrived there.
It was a big step in the competition during this tournament for Brady, who has not met anyone in the Top 25 nor anyone who has previously appeared in as many as one Grand Slam semi-final.
Brady’s only previous last four on a major was at the US Open in September, when she lost in three sets to Osaka.
She could not push the champion so much this time.
“I told everyone who would listen that you were going to be a problem – and I was right,” Osaka told Brady with a laugh after asking her if she would prefer to become Jenny or Jennifer. “It’s very cool for me to see how you’ve grown over the last few months.”
During the pre – match coin toss, the silver women’s trophy stood on a clear plastic pedestal not far from Osaka on her side of the net. After beating Osaka Serena Williams in the semifinals, she made her intentions clear: “I have the mentality that people do not remember the runners-up. You may, but the name of the winner is the one engraved.”
And she keeps making sure the name is hers.
It was cooler than it was recently in Melbourne, with temperatures below 20 degrees Celsius and a breeze that made the tests difficult for both players, who would catch the ball instead of hitting it and saying: ‘ Sorry! “
The stadium was allowed to be at half capacity – about 7,500 people – after spectators were completely excluded from the tournament for five days during the COVID-19 exclusion.
“Thank you for coming to watch. It feels incredible to me,” said Osaka, whose U.S. Open title appeared in empty stadiums in 2020. “I did not play my last Grand Slam with fans, so just having this energy really means a lot.”
In the final men’s final for men Sunday (19:30 local time, 03:30 ET on ESPN and ESPN App), no. 1 Novak Djokovic seeks his ninth Australian Open championship and 18th Grand Slam trophy overall. He stands before the no. 4 Daniil Medvedev, who carries a 20-match winning streak in his second major final.
On Saturday, the women’s match was concluded at 4-all when Brady used a running lob winner that she underlined by waving her arms to ask for more noise from the crowd. It deserved a breakdown point – convert it, and she would serve for the opening set.
But Osaka eliminated the chance with a provisional winner in court, and two errors by Brady made it 5-4.
Osaka then broke to grab the set, aided by Brady’s double fault and a neat forehand on a short ball to end it.
“Happens maybe one in ten times,” Brady said of the mistake, “or hopefully less.”
It was part of the six games that gave Osaka a 4-0 lead in second place, and she was on her way.
“She plays so aggressively that she puts so much pressure on you to perform well,” Brady said, “and that’s something not every tennis player has the ability to do.”