MELBOURNE, Australia – The problem for Naomi Osaka in the Grand Slam tournaments comes in week 1. When she goes beyond this stage to the majors on the hard field, she still starts to prepare to write her name on the trophy.
Osaka have won their fourth straight Slam title in eight games, coming out of what was originally a close Australian Open final and retired by six straight games to beat Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-3. Saturday.
With a strong portion that produced six aces, Osaka improved to 4-0 in the major finals, the first woman to start her career this way since Monica Seles did it 30 years ago. For Osaka, this is part of a record of 12-0 so far in the quarterfinals, semifinals and major finals.
“He played really well when he had to,” Brady said. “He fired good shots when he needed them.”
Osaka, the AP women’s 2020 athlete, is also in a winning streak of 21 matches dating back to last season. This includes a championship at last year’s US Open. He also won the US Open in 2018 and the Australian Open in 2019.
“It wasn’t supposed to be tonight,” Brady said after attending his first Grand Slam final at the age of 25. “We hope there are many more.”
Osaka, 23, was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, and she and her family moved to the United States when she was 3 years old.
She was ranked 3rd at Melbourne Park and is now assured that she will climb 2nd.
Only two active women hold more Slam titles than Osaka: Serena Williams, 23, and her sister Venus, seven.
The next task for Osaka is improving on clay and grass: he never made it past the third round at the French Open or Wimbledon.
“It’s an inspiration to all of us and what it does for the game is amazing in getting the sport out there,” said Brady, an American who was ranked 22nd. “I hope the young girls at home look and get inspired. from what he does. “
Brady had to go through a harsh quarantine for 15 days when she arrived in Australia in January because someone on her flight tested positive for COVID-19 when they arrived.
This was a big step in the competition during this tournament for Brady, who did not face anyone in the top 25, nor anyone who had previously appeared in a single Grand Slam semifinal.
Brady’s only previous appearance in the major semifinals came at the US Open in September, when he lost to Osaka in three sets.
This time he failed to push the champion.
“I told everyone they’d hear you were a problem – and I was right,” Osaka told Brady with a chuckle, after asking her if she’d rather be called Jenny or Jennifer. “To see the growth in recent months is very interesting for me to see.”
During the premonhand throw, the silver women’s trophy sat on a clear, plastic pedestal not far from Osaka on her side of the net. After defeating Serena Williams in the semifinals, Osaka had clearly stated her intentions: “I have this mentality that people don’t remember the second final. It might be, but the name of the winner is the one that is engraved.”
And she continues to make sure that this name is hers.
It was cooler than it was recently in Melbourne, with a temperature below 70 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) and a breeze that made serving throws difficult for both players, who would catch the ball instead of hitting it and saying : “Sorry!”
The stadium was allowed to have a capacity of half – about 7,500 people – after spectators were banned altogether earlier in the tournament for five days during a COVID-19 blockade.
“Thank you for coming and watching. It feels really incredible to me,” said Osaka, whose 2020 US Open title came on empty stadiums. “I didn’t play my last Grand Slam with the fans, so just having that energy really means a lot.”
On the last men’s Sunday (19:30 local time, 3:30 am ET on ESPN and ESPN App), No. 1 Novak Djokovic will be looking for his ninth Australian Open championship and 18th Grand Slam trophy overall. He faces no. 4, Daniil Medvedev, who carries a series of victories of 20 matches in his second major final.
On Saturday, the women’s match was blocked at 4, when Brady used a lob winner on the run, which he scored by waving his arms to demand more noise from the crowd. This gained a breaking point – convert this and it will serve for the opening set.
But Osaka wiped out the chance with a cross from the right, and two errors by Brady made it 5-4.
Osaka then broke to grab the set, aided by Brady’s double mistake and a right hand placed on a short ball to end it.
“Maybe it happens one in 10 times,” Brady said of the mistake, “or hopefully less.”
It was part of a six-game series that put Osaka 4-0 up in the second, and she was on her way.
“He plays so aggressively that he puts so much pressure on you to perform well,” Brady said, “and that’s something not every tennis player has that ability to do.”