MELBOURNE: Naomi Osaka gave Jennifer Brady a lesson in Grand Slam tennis as she cruised to a 6-4 6-3 win to secure her second Australian Open title on Saturday and cement her standing as the new queen of the women's game.
Osaka's victory over the 22nd-seeded American at a floodlit Rod Laver Arena gave the Japanese third seed her fourth major crown at the age of 23.
Fans hoping for a repeat of the pair's engrossing U.S. Open semi-final last year were left disappointed as Brady froze in the spotlight of her first Grand Slam final.
U.S. Open champion Osaka played some way short of her best tennis and joined Brady in contributing to a dour, error-strewn first set.
But she settled to clinch six straight games, roaring to a 4-0 lead in the second before serving out the match to love.
A big serve sealed it, causing Brady to fire a forehand return long, and Osaka held her racket over her head and beamed in an understated celebration.
Osaka, who won the 2019 tournament, offered Brady warm congratulations and thanked the fans at the trophy ceremony.
"When we played in the semis of the U.S. Open, a couple of months ago, and I told everyone that 'Listen you're going to be a problem'. And I was right," said Osaka, who will be world number two when the rankings are updated.
"It feels really incredible for me. I didn't play my last Grand Slam with fans so just to have this energy it really means a lot."
On a cool and breezy night at Rod Laver Arena, Osaka warmed up with two aces as she served out the opening game to love but the blazing start fizzled out in a stream of errors from both players.
Grappling with early nerves, Brady dropped serve after two double-faults but quickly broke back when Osaka double-faulted to gift a break point.
Brady breathed some life into the contest at 4-4, luring Osaka in with a drop-shot, then scrambling forward to retrieve and lob her for break point.
Osaka cancelled it nervelessly with an imperious forehand winner launched from the baseline.
Brady kept offering Osaka gifts from her racket.
Serving to stay in the set at 5-4, she double-faulted then slapped a wild forehand over the baseline to cough up set point.
Brady fired down a huge serve that Osaka could only return short, then stepped in to pound what should have been a simple forehand winner straight into the net.
The crowd groaned and Brady went to her chair ashen-faced.
Osaka stepped up the pressure, breaking Brady again after setting up the chance with a sumptuous crosscourt backhand winner.
She charged on to a 4-0 lead before Brady belatedly conjured some resistance to break Osaka against the flow of play.
The American clawed back to 5-3 but bowed out as she started, smashing wild returns to allow Osaka to serve out the match without trouble.
Although it was a tough first Grand Slam final for Brady, she broke new ground in a remarkable run after being one of the 72 players unable to train during their two-week hard quarantine in the lead-up.
"First I would like to congratulate Naomi on another Grand Slam title," said the 25-year-old.
"She's such an inspiration to us all and what she's doing for the game is amazing and getting the sport out there and I hope young girls at home are watching and are inspired by what she's doing."
Tennis-Osaka shines to claim second Australian Open crown
Tennis-Osaka shines to claim second Australian Open crown
- Osaka, who won the 2019 tournament, offered Brady warm congratulations and thanked the fans at the trophy ceremony
- U.S. Open champion Osaka played some way short of her best tennis
Inter continue Scudetto march after Champions League humbling
- Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto
MILAN, Italy: Inter Milan bounced back from Champions League elimination with Saturday’s 2-0 win over Genoa which continued their march toward the Serie A title.
Federico Dimarco’s brilliant volley just after the half-hour mark and Hakan Calhanoglu’s second-half penalty were enough for Inter to extend their already huge lead over AC Milan at the top of the table to 13 points.
Milan will be favorites to win at Cremonese in Sunday’s early fixture, with the local rivals set to face off next weekend in a match which will in all likelihood have little impact on the destination of the Scudetto.
Inter, whose fans unloaded a collection of anti-Milan chants in anticipation of the derby, have dropped just two points in 15 league matches and have been a cut above the rest in Italy’s top flight this season.
Their domestic dominance comes in stark contrast to the humiliating manner in which they were dumped out of the Champions League by Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday night.
A 5-2 aggregate defeat to the Norwegian minnows cast doubts over not just the quality of Cristian Chivu’s team but of Italian football as a whole.
There was plenty of quality in Dimarco’s opener however, the Italy full-back beautifully placing a first-time finish from a tight angle after exchanging passes with Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
Little else happened in a humdrum encounter until Alex Amorim handled a cross from Luis Henrique, whose shot had been tipped onto the post just moments before.
Calhanoglu calmly stroked home the spot-kick on his return to action following niggling muscle problems which have caused him issues since before Christmas, sealing the points for Inter.
Big Rom back
Romelu Lukaku kept Napoli on course for a Champions League spot with a last-gasp winner in the champions’ 2-1 victory over rock-bottom Verona, the Belgium forward’s first goal of the season.
Lukaku forced home Giovane’s cross to snatch the win for third-placed Napoli with the last kick of the game at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi.
Napoli had looked like dropping points in northern Italy when Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro levelled Rasmus Hojlund’s early opener in the 65th minute.
But Lukaku, who only played his first game of the season in late January, gave Napoli a huge win with both Como and Atalanta pushing for a top-four placing.
“I was a dead player before coming here,” said Lukaku to DAZN.
“This season has been difficult, but we’ve got to aim high.”
Napoli’s title defense is all but over as they trail Inter by 14 points after an injury-ravaged season.
Napoli were missing key midfielders Scott McTominay, Kevin De Bruyne and Andre-Frank Anguissa on Saturday, as well as captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo.
Verona, under interim coach Paolo Sammarco following the sacking of Paolo Zanetti earlier this month, are 10 points from safety after a 12th straight match without a win.
Como, who face Inter in the first leg of the Italian Cup semifinals on Tuesday, strolled to 3-1 victory over strugglers Lecce to continue their push for a first-ever qualification for European football.
Cesc Fabregas’s team are two points behind Roma, in fourth and Juventus’ opponents on Sunday, and five behind Napoli.
Como are also two points ahead of sixth-placed Juve who face Roma trying to stay in touch with the Champions League places after being eliminated from Europe’s elite club competition by Galatasaray on Wednesday.
