Osaka beats Azarenka to win US Open and third Grand Slam

NEW YORK – Japan’s Naomi Osaka beat one set down to beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus to win the US Open on Saturday and claim her third Grand Slam title.

Fourth-seeded Osaka outscored her non-seeded opponent 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 in 1 hour and 53 minutes inside a nearly empty Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows.

He brought the 22-year-old Osaka’s number of top tennis trophies to three after his victories at the 2018 US Open and 2019 Australian Open.

Azarenka, 31, ran into the first set in just 26 minutes, dominating Osaka with an 88 percent success rate on her first serve.

The Japanese was unusually careless, making 13 unforced errors.

Azarenka then went ahead 2-0 in the second set before Osaka fought back to break her opponent’s serve twice and take a 4-3 lead.

Momentum had swiftly tilted in Osaka’s favor and she broke for a third time to lead the match to a deciding set.

Osaka enjoyed the first run of the third set in the fourth game when she broke Azarenka’s serve to take a 3-1 lead.

Azarenka then blew a golden opportunity to get back into the match, squandering three break points as Osaka rallied from 0-40 to maintain a 4-1 lead.

Azarenka then saved four break points to make it 4-2 as she struggled to keep the contest alive.

When he broke Osaka in the seventh game, the set returned to service.

But Osaka bounced back immediately after Azarenka drove in a forehand to give himself a chance to serve for the match.

In the second point of the Osaka championship, Azarenka found the net.

After hitting the rackets with his opponent, Osaka lay down in the middle of the court and looked up at the sky in celebration.

Osaka had entered the court wearing a mask bearing the name of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African American boy who was shot and killed by a white police officer in Cleveland, Ohio in 2014.

Osaka, of Japanese and Haitian descent, wore different masks honoring victims of racial injustice and police brutality in each round of the tournament.

The 2019 Australian Open champion also covered her face with the names of Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd and Philando Castile.