On Saturday night, Naomi Osaka won the Australian Open women’s singles final beating Jennifer Brady. A couple of hours later she was more uncomfortable than when she was playing the finals as she sipped the celebratory champagne that was given to her as a toast was raised her by Craig Tilley, head of Tennis Australia, for winning her second Australian Open title.
The 23-year old Japanese player has never enjoyed a drink as she was told as a child that alcohol was bad for her, ”like it was ruining your liver or your body.”
The young woman has spent a lot of time in Florida. She has achieved a 4 for 4 feat in Grand Slams finals, which was last achieved by Monica Seles as she won a total nine championships and Roger Federer as he won 20 championships.
She won her second U.S. Open title this September and has been unbeaten in the last 21 matches she has played. Both the finalists were nervous at the start of play but Osaka is a good pace setter and won the first set. In the second set she was 4-0 and needed just above half an hour to close out the match.
Omg no ðŸ˜ðŸ˜© I promise you my mind thought I called her Jenny in that moment and I was so confused why the crowd was laughing. I’m so sorry 😣 https://t.co/fqS3nPBb1C
– NaomiOsaka大å‚ãªãŠã¿ (@naomiosaka) February 21, 2021
Osaka had also won the 2019 Australian Open and said that it was a privilege to play a major tournament considering the coronavirus pandemic.
She said, “I didn’t play my last Grand Slam with fans, so just to have this energy it really means a lot.” Osaka was referring to her victory over Victoria Azarenka in New York, where she had won by three sets.
Brady is a 25-year old American and the first woman with collegiate experience in the tournament’s final since 1983. Had she won, she would have been the first to win the title since 1979 when Barbara Jordan of Stanford won the title.
Osaka considers Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam as her childhood idol. She said, “You can just keep going down your own path.”
Image Credit Twitter
