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Naomi Osaka won the US Open on Saturday for the second time
Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka won the US Open on Saturday for the second time, defeating Belarusian Victoria Azarenka, in three sets, in the final of the Grand Slam tournament.
Despite losing the match, Osaka, ninth in the world ranking, beat Azarenka, 27th, by 1-6, 6-3 and 6-3, in one hour and 53 minutes.
The Japanese tennis player, who will rise to third position in the WTA hierarchy on Monday, repeated her 2018 triumph in New York, winning the third great ‘race’ at age 22, after also winning the Australian Open in 2019..
Osaka’s achievement is even more significant, as she is the first tennis player from an Asian country to win three “Grand Slam” titles, surpassing China’s Na Li, who won two, and the fifth player in the Open era (since 1968). ) to win the first three “major” finals in which she participated, joining Virginia Wade, Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport and Jennifer Capriati
In an empty stadium Arthur Ashe, the 22-year-old Japanese, living in the United States, broke another historical record, becoming the first female champion after losing her first set since 1994, when Arantxa Sánchez Vicar achieved an equal feat against the German Steffi Graf .
In a lackluster ceremony lacking in emotion, Osaka was short on words, thanking everyone around him and explaining that he lay down on the “court” to celebrate the title, to “copy” other winners, but without setbacks .
“I see that everyone collapses after a match point, and I wanted to do it safely,” he justified, before explaining that the change was due to having considered “that it would be very humiliating to lose in less than an hour.”
More excited than the winner, Victoria Azarenka regretted that the third was not for the better, referring to the three finals lost in Flushing Meadows (she was a finalist defeated in 2012 and 2013, against the American Serena Williams),
“It seems that I will have to try again … These are not easy times, but I am very grateful to be able to play against millions of people around the world, who unfortunately are not here. It is a blessing, it was a long journey, I hope see you soon “, declared the tennis player who banned Serena Williams in the” socks “, confessing that she hopes to find Osaka in other finals.
Winner of the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013, the 31-year-old former world number one has not reached a “major” final since the 2013 US Open, having been on a long journey through the desert since was a mother in 2016. The Belarusian faced a legal battle over custody of her son, which prevented her from even participating in tournaments.
“I want to congratulate you and I do not want to play with you in more finals, it was very hard. I saw you play here and I am very grateful to have played with you,” Osaka joked, before receiving the champion trophy.
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