By:Â Alex D. Williams
Haitian & Japanese Star Naomi Osaka claims her second Australian Open title after defeating American Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-3 in the tournament finals on Saturday, February 20th, 2021.Â
The young star proved her tenacity and grit after defeating 23-time Grand Slam Champion Serena Williams just one game earlier in the semi-finals 6-3, 6-4.Â
Nevertheless, Osaka showed up and showed out with six aces and sixty-nine points won in her finals match. She proved that she is worthy to sit amongst some of the greats as she also collected her fourth grand slam title at just 23-years-old.Â
Osaka is also a former US Open Grand slam champion from 2018 and 2020. Additionally, her first Australian Open title came against 2x Grand Slam Champion Petra Kvitova in the 2019 finals.
Since then, Osaka has never lost a grand slam finals match that she has played in. No other great has accomplished this in their first four grand slams including Serena WIlliams, Steffi Graff, to name a few. Â
In her match against Brady, Osaka started off strong and managed to pound her way through the first set. Both women played extremely well, but in the end , it was Osaka who left victorious.Â
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Osaka’s fierce serve, similar to the great Serena Williams, helped her to come back and win points back to back in her service games. Even when she was down on multiple break points, her serve helped her to stay in the match and fight for that next shot.Â
She was able to create several deep groundstroke winners with her quick speed and ability to move around the court. Pushing Brady to compete on defense very early, she also forced quite a few long rallies that really drew the crowd in.
As this was Brady’s first major final appearance, Osaka’s experience gave her that extra leverage with overcoming nerves. It was a very high energy match on both sides, and it definitely exceeded all expectations for a finals match.
Due to COVID-19, the tennis schedule is constantly changing. However, many are excited to see what Osaka has in store for her next grand slam. In a post-game conference after the match, Naomi spoke of wanting to one day be the reason that a young girl decided to play tennis.Â
She is the reason that so many young women can see themselves as one day excelling in this sport, and it is even better that her idol, Serena Williams can also still inspire other young Black women to follow their dreams without any fear of the world stopping them.