Naomi Osaka paused when asked about her perfect record in the grand finals. She had just beaten Serena Williams in the Australian Open semi-finals and secured her spot in her fourth championship game.
Her tone was soft, but her message was anything but soft.
“I have a mindset that people don’t remember the runners-up,” she said. Perhaps, but the winner’s name is the one engraved.
“I think I fight the hardest in the final. I think you distinguish yourself a little bit there.”
Osaka did exactly that Saturday.
Playing American Jennifer Brady to a limited but lively crowd at the Rod Laver Arena, the 23-year-old rolled to a 6-4, 6-3 win in 77 minutes and at the end of the night, she hoisted her fourth Slam- trophy. She and Monica Seles are the only women to have won their first four grand finals in the Open era, and she’s now only following Serena and Venus Williams with big wins among active players, on par with the recently returned Kim Clijsters.
“This win confirms her as the best player in the world,” said Rennae Stubbs, the four-time doubles champion and ESPN analyst. “That’s what it does. I think there’s no question that, especially on a hard court, she’s just as dominant as any player has been in the last three years.”
“For a while there were questions that she didn’t like the spotlight and whether that would prevent her from becoming a dominant player, but now we can all put that aside, because clearly that’s not the case. We know she loves it. “Know she can handle the pressure. We know she likes being the face of women’s tennis, and now she’s the face of women’s tennis.”
While Osaka won’t rise to No. 1 in the rankings due to the pandemic-adjusted points system, and will have to settle for No. 2 instead, the number for her name is just a formality. On Saturday she left no doubt about where she stands in the current landscape of women’s tennis.
Osaka was the overwhelming favorite entering the competition, but she knew it wouldn’t be easy to get past the first finalist Brady. The two had fought in the semifinals of the US Open in September in a memorable three-set match in which Osaka said she had “never had to fight so hard so physically and mentally” on the field.
Saturday was easier.
Brady held break point 4-all in the first set before Osaka knocked out a decisive forehand winner on the sidelines. She took the next two points and never hesitated again. She won six consecutive games and remained firmly in control. Osaka had six aces and 16 winners and was unavoidable at the most crucial moments.
“She played really well when she had to,” said Brady after the game. “She took good shots when she needed them. That’s the hardest time to find those shots. You know, to defend yourself when it’s the big moments.
“And just to serve the game like that, you know, she did that to me in New York too. She’s clearly confident in her service and serving up matches and playing risky tennis when it matters. hard to face. “
After Brady’s forehand took a long time to seal the match, Osaka put her hands above her head and sat back and smiled, her face flooded with joy but no hint of surprise. She spun confidently and comfortably and waved to the crowd after giving Brady a hug to the net and knew just how to act like a champion. She gave a graceful victory speech, hitting all the right points without a hint of awkwardness, except asking Brady if she wanted to be called “Jennifer” or “Jenny” and then doing the opposite of what she asked.
It was a very different scene from the one after her first two Slam titles, at the 2018 US Open and the 2019 Australian Open, where few expected her to triumph against more experienced opponents.
“The first time I won both trophies, I was just a kid in a way,” she said at her post-game press conference. “I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was winning my games, but I appreciated the moment, the tournament, how difficult it is to even get into the position I am in now.”
Having catapulted those consecutive big wins to the No. 1 rankings, Osaka struggled under the weight of expectations. She split with coach Sascha Bajin and lost in the third round of the French Open. Weeks later, she suffered a shocking first-round exit at Wimbledon. She left her post-game press conference in tears, and many in the sport wondered if it was just too much success and pressure too soon.
She did not allay the doubts with her loss in the fourth round in New York in 2019 or a shocking goodbye in the third round by 15-year-old Coco Gauff in Melbourne in 2020. But after the season’s suspension in March Due to the pandemic of the coronavirus, Osaka has reassessed its attitude and its priorities. She began speaking out on the issues that were important to her, including systemic racism and police brutality, and traveled to Minneapolis to protest the death of George Floyd.
When the season rebooted in August, it didn’t take long for Osaka to rediscover her confidence on the pitch as she continued to use her voice. She won her first three matches at the Western & Southern Open, the run-up tournament for the US Open, then announced that she would boycott her semifinal in hopes of sparking conversation in the tennis world surrounding the shooting of Jacob Blake by the police. in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The tournament paused the game for the day in support.
Before the US Open kicked off a few days later, Osaka set aside seven masks, each bearing the name of a person killed as a result of racial injustice or police brutality, to wear before and after matches. She was able to wear them all on her run to the finals, and she cited having a message as motivation. She won the tournament.
She has become a prominent advocate, writing opinion pieces and appearing in magazines, drafting one big endorsement after another.
And she’s unbeatable on the tennis court and hasn’t lost since the season started over. Saturday’s final marked her 21st straight win.
It is the longest streak of wins in the WTA Tour since Serena Williams had 27 consecutive wins in the 2014 and 2015 seasons.
Williams has long been the leading figure in women’s tennis – dominating the court, headlines and sponsorship money – and has sought to reclaim her throne for the past three years since she gave birth. But it has been Osaka who has quietly emerged from Williams’ long shadow to claim first place. Forbes named her the highest paid female athlete in the world in 2020.
Osaka’s 6-3, 6-4 win over Williams in the semifinals was perhaps the last statement on the matter.
After two shaky opening games, Osaka regained her composure and won the next five – except dismantle the 23-time great champion with a page from her own playbook, using big serve and powerful bases. When Williams left the field emotionally, raising questions about her future, it seemed as if the torch of the game’s dominant presence had officially passed.
There have been eleven different major champions since Serena Williams won her most recent Slam title at the Australian Open in 2017 – with Osaka and Simona Halep (2) the only ones to win multiple trophies in that period. There has been incessant talk about the depth of the women’s game and questions about the top players’ ability to produce consistent results. But Osaka seemed to further distinguish itself on Saturday.
Osaka had 50 aces at the tournament in the past fourteen days – 15 more than second place Serena Williams and 16 more than Brady. She recorded one of the fastest services at 122 mph and had a 79% first serve win rate for second best at the event.
Osaka has never made it past the third round at the French Open or Wimbledon and she has admitted that she’s not quite as confident on clay or grass, but she looks more than up for the challenge and hopes to continue her dominance.
“The funny thing is that I no longer see expectations as a burden,” she said on Saturday. “I feel like I’m at the point now where it’s something I’ve worked for. For example, people wouldn’t expect things from me if I hadn’t done things before, if that makes sense. expected when I was younger, and now that I have climbed a little higher, there will of course be more pressure, but I also feel that it is motivation, because I also want to do better for myself. ”
With deadly service and an ice-cold attitude that’s under pressure – much like Williams in her prime – Osaka is now the one her peers don’t have the answers to.