Naomi Osaka has become the most decorated Asian singles player in Grand Slam history after fighting back from a set and a break down to defeat Victoria Azarenka en route to winning the US Open.
The fourth seed was hammered with a first-set thrashing before fighting her way back to prevail 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, and record her third consecutive Tour win over the Belarusian. The roller-coaster encounter was very much a tale of two halves with Azarenka being the dominant force early on before Osaka found a way to halt and then topple her opponent in a thriller. Doing so with the help of 30 winners to 22 unforced errors and breaking Azarenka five times in total.
“I want to congratulate Vika. I actually don’t want to play you in anymore finals. I didn’t really enjoy that,” Osaka said afterwards.
“It’s so inspiring because I used to watch you play here when I was younger. I learned a lot.”
“I want to thank my team for sticking with me. I know the beginning of the year was not great.”
The Saturday night showdown was a repeat of the Western and Southern Open final that never happened two weeks ago after Osaka was forced to withdraw due to a hamstring injury. This time round both players were fit with Azarenka staging an almost flawless start to the match. It was evident that her game plan was to move Osaka around the court as much as possible to minimise the intensity of her shot-making. Dictating play from the onset, Azarenka raced to a 5-1 lead in just over 20 minutes thanks to some blistering shot-making to fluster Osaka. Breaking her rival three times in total, the former world No.1 clinched the opener with the help of a winning backhand to complete her dream start to the final. During the first set Azarenka dropped just four points behind her serve and produced just three unforced errors.
Osaka, who had only dropped two sets in the entire tournament until today, showed little emotion on the Arthur Ashe Stadium. Facing the prospect of a beat down after getting broken once again at the start of the second set, the fourth seed finally managed to get some momentum in the match. Benefiting from some loose hits from across the court, the Japanese No.1 retrieved the break in a game that revived her title hopes.
“I just thought it would be very embarrassing to lose in under an hour.” She said.
The tides continued to turn in favour of Osaka following another error-stricken Azarenka service game that elevated her to a 4-3 lead and put her ahead in the set for the first time. She completed the turnaround with the help of back-to-back forehand winners to draw level in the match and force proceedings into a decider.
With the trophy and a payment of $3 million at stake for the winner, Osaka continued to have a firm hold on the match. She was playing a different Azarenka compared to the start as she continued to make mistakes on shots she wasn’t missing at one point. Enabling a fired up Osaka to nudge ahead 3-1 and close in on victory. Continuing to come up with answers to all the questions that were asked of her. It would be a misfired Azarenka forehand that would reward her two championship points. After failing in her first attempt, she clinched the title with the help of a shot from her rival crashing into the net.
“I always see everyone collapse after match point. But I always think you may injure yourself so I wanted to do it safely,” Osaka said after lying on the court following the match.
Meanwhile, Azarenka exits New York thinking about what might have happened if she didn’t drop serve in the third game of the second set. This week was the first time she had played a Grand Slam final since 2013. Despite the loss, she will re-enter the worlds top 15 next week for the first time since January 2017.
“I thought third time was the charm but I guess I’ll have to try again. Congratulations to Naomi and her team.” said Azarenka.
“I want to thank my team for sticking with me and believing in me. We’re going to have more fun the next few weeks. It was a long journey to get here, but this was fun. Thank you so much.”
The victory rewards Osaka her third major singles trophy which makes her the first Asian player – male or female – to have ever achieved that. She has also become only the fourth female player to have won a US Open title after coming back from a set down in the Open Era and first since 2001.
