Naomi Osaka clinched her second Australian Open title and a fourth Grand Slam after beating Jennifer Brady in straight sets at the Australian Open 2021 women’s singles final at Melbourne Park on February 20 (Saturday). Osaka needed just over an hour to beat the 22nd seed American 6-4, 6-3 at the Rod Laver Arena and make it consecutive Grand Slam wins. She is also the 12th woman in the open era to win multiple Australian Open titles. The victory over Brady in the AUS Open final took her to second in the WTA rankings. Naomi Osaka of Japan Clinches Second Australian Open Title, Beats Jennifer Brady of America in Women’s Singles Final.
Osaka’s first Grand Slam title came at the US Open in 2018. She followed it with an Australian Open title win in the next year. The Japanese has since doubled her tally at both US Open and Australian Open. She broke no sweat in winning the first set. But once Brady settled her nerves and broke her in the fifth game of the second set, Osaka found it hard to go past the American. But she eventually found her first serve and raced to victory.
Osaka Shines in Melbourne Again
✨ Osaka shines in Melbourne once more ✨@naomiosaka is an #AusOpen champion for the second time.#AO2021 pic.twitter.com/LrZCX4XfJ6
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 20, 2021
Naomi Osaka Would Not Be Denied
Naomi Osaka would not be denied 😤 pic.twitter.com/sU5xV8gVSC
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) February 20, 2021
Big Time Player
Osaka also the first player since Monica Seles to win her first four Grand Slam finals.
4 of her 7 titles are Majors.
Big time player.
[getty] pic.twitter.com/yOBsW88odT
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) February 20, 2021
In Company of Legends
Naomi Osaka joins truly elite company by winning her fourth Slam title, beating Brady 6-4, 6-3 for her second #AusOpen title.
Active players with four or more Slam singles titles:
Serena Williams
Roger Federer
Rafael Nadal
Novak Djokovic
Venus Williams
Kim Clijsters
Naomi Osaka
— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) February 20, 2021
Naomi Osaka Wins Her Fourth Grand Slam Title
🏆🏆 @naomiosaka 🏆🏆
Naomi Osaka wins her fourth Grand Slam title with a dominating performance Down Under. pic.twitter.com/KA7GTPfXx0
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) February 20, 2021
Australian Open Champion for Second Time
Naomi Osaka is the champion of the Australian Open for the second time in her career.#Ausopen @naomiosaka pic.twitter.com/SoD3q7pIDZ
— Tennis GIFs 🎾🎥 (@tennis_gifs) February 20, 2021
Naomi Osaka Dropped Just One Set in Entire Tournament
1st rd: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
2nd rd: Caroline Garcia
3rd rd: Ons Jabeur
4th rd: Garbine Muguruza
5th rd: Hsieh Su-wei
SF: Serena Williams
Final: Jennifer Brady
In a super tough draw, Naomi Osaka dropped ONE SET. pic.twitter.com/LrOjaDQxP3
— Vinayakk (@vinayakkm) February 20, 2021
Congratulations Champion
Congratulations champ 🎾
Naomi Osaka
Was never in doubt pic.twitter.com/fUSGIwFi62
— Ayanfe (@Ayanfe_Tweet) February 20, 2021
She also holds a 3-1 advantage over Brady in head-to-head records. Osaka has won both of their Slam meetings. Brady, who crashed out of the US Open semis last year after a similar defeat to Osaka, was playing her maiden Slam final.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 20, 2021 04:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).