Playing her first major final, Naomi Osaka accompanied powerful game with impressive composure to beat Serena Williams 6-2 6-4 for the US Open title and became the first Japanese player to become a Grand Slam singles champion.
The 20th-seeded Osaka, 16 years younger than her opponent, ran away with the first set by breaking Williams in the third and fifth game, while in the second set Williams broke back to decrease Osaka’s lead from 3-1 to 3-2, but Osaka earned another break on her very next opportunity and confidently marched to the career-defining triumph.
The match featured a lot of drama and Williams’ tantrums, because chair umpire Carlos Ramos accused the 23-time Grand Slam champion of coaching violation, as Patrick Mouratoglou was supposedly giving Williams secret signals from the player’s box. Evidently dying to win the title, Serena argued with the umpire on several occasions, accused him of lying and said “I don’t cheat to win. I’d rather lose.” However, Mouratoglou’s gestures did look like coaching and he even admitted it later on: “If I’m honest I was coaching, [but] I don’t think she looked at me.”
The messy situation threatened to disrupt Osaka’s flow, but the 20-year-old stayed focused and never let the controversy ruin her concentration, eventually winning her maiden Grand Slam in an emphatic fashion.
Osaka’s route to the trophy included wins over Germany’s Laura Siegemund in the first round, Israel’s Julia Glushko in the second, Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the third, Belarusian seed No.26 Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth, Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko in the quarterfinals, last year’s runner-up and 14th seed Madison Keys in the semis, and finally tennis legend Serena Williams.
Improving her head-to-head record against Serena to 2-0, Osaka earned $3.8 million in prize money, while in her entire career until this US Open her earnings amounted $3.2 million.
When it comes to attire that accompanied Osaka to this career milestone, the Japanese wore the soft-to-the-touch Adidas Fall Barricade Tank and Skirt.
Hmm. You posted this article rather quickly. Crickets have been chirping for the past few days on this blog concerning daily results. Again, congrats to Osaka despite the unnecessary game the shady referee gifted her; she had the advantage from the onset and was winning on her own terms; she was the better player and kept her cool. Suck it up, Serena, and let it go. You’re still the GOAT, just as all the other greats have named you: Federer, Martina Navratilova, Chris Everett, Steffi Graff, etc. You should know by now, they’ll never catch up to what you’ve accomplished, and you still hold the Open Era record with your 23 slam titles. Learn to control your anger and be an example to all, especially your adorable daughter who’s coming up behind you. Don’t give any one who’s not supportive of you and your amazing achievements any negative fuel to go on. Congrats on making it to yet another slam final. Even in your “old” age, you’ve still got the goods; you’re just letting your nerves get the best of you and you must master that. SERENAWILLIAMS #24&MORE!
Look, Serena’s unsportsmanlike behavior has been on display for years…..threats to linesmen, profanity, walk-abouts, racket mangling, and verbal abuse of umpires. She was a disgrace today, but the uncovered story is why the winner is not playing under the American flag. Since she lives in U.S., grew up in U.S., learned tennis and trained in U.S., the least she could do was play as a U.S. competitor, not one from Haiti or Japan. She and her father are a disgrace. We permit these ungrateful foreigners to exploit our freedom, hospitality and education and then get a big middle finger from them. Kick them TFO of this country.
yikes @ the racism of the above comment, what trash
I was nervous for Naomi because of how big this was but she blew me away, I’m so proud of her! What an honour to make history for Japan and Haiti in tennis. Looking forward to seeing more Slams in her. I hope she gets to enjoy herself with her family + team after the press stuff is done, she deserves a much happier celebration than that tragic ceremony. Seeing other Asian players congratulate her is very cute.
I support Serena in all the unfair flack she gets but today other than the coaching violation it was all on her honestly. People using this to hurl racist/sexist remarks at her are terrible, but the people blindly defending her need to understand that Ramos was just doing his job and that it was only natural she was going to get penalised for breaking her racquet and verbally hounding him. The drama definitely soured my mood but Serena was still all class after the match, comforting Naomi and telling the crowd to cheer for her. Her coach Patrick is dumb for pulling that coaching stint though, she really needs to ditch him.
Rich Curry, do you have that same opinion of Maria Sharapova, the lying, cheating doper? She too grew up in the USA and trains there but considers herself Russian because she was born there, as opposed to born and raised there. You’ve never heard Maria speak Russian (barely can speak it, honestly), yet she benefits greatly from residing and training in America. The American people have embraced her as their blue-eyed, blond beauty queen and have put her on a pedestal for years; she can do no wrong in their eyes. Osaka is part Haitian, but her Haitian father has absolutely nothing to do with what you’re talking about in your ridiculous rant. It’s interesting you didn’t name her Japanese mother in your accusation. Please stop with the nonsensical talk of Osaka being void of US citizenship, stop the discord and hatred, and celebrate her well-deserved victory. She is the new US Open champ, and she won the title fair and square. Her win had nothing to do with whether or not she plays for America or Japan, and it certainly has nothing whatsoever to do with her Japanese citizenship. Again, congrats to Osaka, the 2018 US Open champ! You were the better player today; your amazing sportsmanship, humility, bravery, and calm demeanor I admire greatly. Continued success to you, now and always.
And come to think of it, Mr. Curry, you very well may be the real “foreigner” residing in America. The Native Americans are the original American land owners; they were there before anyone else and had their land and much more stolen from them by you know who. You might want to take an American history course or simply use Google.com every now and again. Osaka and her Haitian father are not ungrateful/disgraceful foreigners and you are wrong to label them as such (very judgmental). Get over her winning the 2018 US Open tournament as a proud Japanese-Haitian and have a nice day!
All cred and congrats to Osaka! As for Serena, she is already a legend and she also seems to be that kind of person who just loses her temper sometimes since playing tennis and winning is so important to her. However, no excuses – nothing was “stolen” from her and actually, I think she regretted losing her temper. She is already “back”, and she will be winning also – but still, how lovely to see another young talented “up-and-coming” person to win!
Such a well-deserved win Naomi Osaka. I actually feel like young Naomi showed more maturity than Serena and gave her a few lessons. Too bad her big day ended up a bit sad. I can understand Serena’s frustration, but she should concentrate her efforts on realising what she has achieved so far. She is the GOAT and another slam is definitely in, but not in this state of mind… she also does not want to ruin all her achievements by displaying that type of behaviour. As to the patriotic comments made, I have absolutely no words 🙁