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NEW YORK: When tennis resumed last month after a five-month hiatus caused by the coronavirus outbreak, it was impossible to know exactly what to expect.
It turns out that Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka have been by far the top two women in the sport, so they will meet on Saturday in the US Open final.
“Honestly,” Osaka said, “like, no one remembers anyone but the winner.”
He is 10-0 since the sport returned.
Azarenka lost her first game back, but has notched up 11 consecutive victories since then, capped by a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 elimination of Serena Williams in the semifinals on Thursday night.
Osaka and Azarenka were supposed to meet in the final of the Western & Southern Open two weeks ago; That tournament was moved from its usual Ohio home to Flushing Meadows as part of a two-event “controlled environment” to limit travel during the pandemic. – but Osaka withdrew due to a left hamstring injury.
That hasn’t hampered her during the US Open, which she won in 2018, and then followed up with a title at the 2019 Australian Open.
Osaka and Azarenka have been playing clean tennis from the baseline. Osaka, whose coach used to work with Azarenka, relies mainly on his big forehand; Azarenka’s best shot is his backhand.
An intriguing item should be Osaka’s service against Azarenka’s return. Osaka ranks second in the field of 128 women, winning 93% of her service games, 65 of 70; Azarenka ranks second by winning 55% of her return games, 31 out of 56.
“It is going to be an incredible final. I hope so, ”Azarenka said. “I’ll have fun”.
In some ways, Osaka right now is where Azarenka was almost a decade ago: in the early 20s, already ranked No. 1, already a two-time Grand Slam champion.
“Your success came pretty fast, right? She suddenly went from being a very promising player to a very successful player. She won two Slams in a row, I was thinking maybe three or four in a row. I was winning almost everything, ”said Osaka coach Wim Fissette, who used to work with Azarenka. “Obviously it’s a time when you’re young and you feel like maybe you’re invincible, invincible. Maybe you take things a bit for granted. I think it could be a big mistake because it sets expectations too high. “
On Saturday, the 22-year-old Osaka will try to clinch her third championship of the last seven major tournaments, and Azarenka, 31, will contest her first Slam title match since 2013 in New York. She won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013 and lost to Williams in the US Open finals both years.
Speaking of those distant days, Azarenka described herself this way: “I was young. My ego was too big. “
When asked to explain more details, he said: “When you’re coming out of nowhere, you become the number one player in the world, sometimes you can start to think that you are invincible and that you are better than everyone. And it is not true. Then the ego begins to grow. It is very painful when damaged. So instead of damaging the ego, I tried to eliminate that and learn from my mistakes … realizing, maturing, that being a tennis player does not make you better or worse than anyone else, that you are still human. “
She left the tour for a while to become a mother; her 3-year-old son, Leo, has been staying with her in a private home on Long Island for these last two tournaments. There have been some tough times on the court recently, including going a calendar year without winning a game until her current streak.
“She has had many, I would say, casualties in her career. It started with a lot of good things, ”said Williams, a good friend of Azarenka. “I don’t know how she stayed positive, to be honest. That is a good lesson for all of us. No matter what, you just have to keep going. Hopefully she continues to live her dream ”.
