Naomi Osaka charms crowd with beautiful victory speech after winning Australian Open
Naomi Osaka has proven without a shadow of a doubt that she is the successor to Serena Williams as the queen of women’s tennis after staving off a first set challenge from Jennifer Brady to win the Australian Open final 6-4 6-3.
Ruthless in her execution on the court, Osaka was typically charming in her acceptance speech afterwards, with the crowd at times in stitches and others in rapturous applause as they got another window into the multi-faceted personality who is becoming the biggest star in women’s tennis.
Osaka wins the Australian Open
However, despite the dominant scoreline, the Japanese star didn’t have the final all her own way, admitting afterwards that Brady was “going to be a problem” for her after awkwardly asking her if she should call her “Jenny or Jennifer”.
Osaka was assured when she needed to be to stop a bulldozing first set comeback from Brady and awesome once the second set began, breaking early before bullying the American on the way to the finish line.
At the age of 23, Osaka has now won four Grand Slams, two Australian Opens and two US Opens, to make her the undisputed superstar of her generation.
She is just two Slams behind Serena Williams’ tally at the same age, with the 23-time major winning 39-year-old having already achieved the ‘Serena Slam’ by her 24th birthday.
Yet, according to Jim Courier, who commentated the match for Nine, Osaka is headed for a career that will put her in the pantheon of all-time greats that Williams has occupied for more than a decade.
