What a thrilling finale of the Australian Open!
21-year-old Naomi Osaka just pocketed her second Grand Slam title after winning Saturday's finale of the Australian Open in Melbourne against Czech player Petra Kvitova and now she can celebrate a great start into this year's tennis season. Last year in September Osaka already won the US Open and next week she will be the new number 1 in the tennis world rankings and replace Simona Halep from Romania. This makes her one of the youngest players to have ever led the world rankings.
The final match was against Petra Kvitova, who had not lost a single set on her way to the final.
Kvitota could claim 5 ATP titles during last year's tour and at the beginning of January she managed to grab her first title this year after winning the 2019 Sydney International.
In the first set of the final, neither of the two players managed to take away a game from their opponent and in the following tiebreak Naomi Osaka won convincingly 7:2.
During the second set, both finalists quickly managed to win some of their opponents servings and Osaka quickly led 4:2. Then at 5:3 she had three match points, which she missed all. After that, nothing worked out anymore for her and the Czech player came back into the match and managed to win the second set herself.
However Naomi Osaka, the daughter of a Haitian and a Japanese, recovered quickly from this setback and went concentrated into the third and deciding set. After quickly taking the first break to a 2-1 lead, she almost took the next serve from her opponent again shortly afterwards. But the Czech player held her ground and the game remained exciting even though Naomi Osaka did not give up her lead anymore.
With her fifth match point, she finally scored the important last point and won this fantastic match 7:6, 5:7 and 6:4. It seemed that it took her quite some moments to realize the moment but then everybody could witness some happy smile on her face.
Petra Kvitova missed her third Grand Slam title after Wimbledon 2011 and 2014 and due to this defeat in the final she also missed the jump to the top of the world rankings herself.
But from Monday on this will be Naomi Osaka's place now, and the young cheerful player seems to be the future of women's tennis. She is the first place to win to straight Grand Slam title since Serena Williams who won four titles in a row in 2014-2015.
And she will also be the first Japanese women ever, who managed to claim the top position in the tennis world rankings.
I'm sure it must have been crucial for her self-confidence that she didn't completely lose control after having five match balls but then losing the second set and that she immediately found her way back into the game.
At the final award ceremony Naomi Osaka, who on the center court is an resolute and energetic power woman, showed her reserved and modest side. Once more she just admitted not having the right words to just describe her feelings and emotions, but that moments was able to tell it all.
Let's hope that this charming player will be able to maintain these important character traits in the future and let's keep our fingers crossed for Naomi Osaka for a successful tennis year and that she will never lose the fun of this great game.
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