Naomi Osaka won her fourth grand slam title after a 6-4 6-3 win over Jennifer Brady in the Australian Open final.
Osaka was too good for the first time grand slam finalist as she prevailed in a relatively comfortable straight sets win.
The victory means it is her fourth grand slam title, second Australian Open victory and now 21 wins in a row.
It was easy to tell who was the more experienced player under these circumstances as Osaka settled into the match quickly with two aces contributing to a love hold.
As for the American, she needed a bit longer to settle in a grand slam final with a 29% first serve percentage in her first two service games.
That is not going to get it done in a grand slam final as two double faults in the fourth game handed the break to the 2019 champion for a 3-1 lead.
However the American didn’t get to her first grand slam final without a bit of resilience and some nice forehands mixed with some sloppy Osaka play , saw Brady break straight back.
As the forehand gained consistent power and shape, the backhand was also good in attacking situations as she forced the third seed to use some difficult angles from static court positions.
This match turned into an enjoyable contest with Brady hitting some amazing shots to get the Rod Laver Arena crowd into the match.
After a gritty hold from break point down, Osaka used her champion qualities to rally from 40-15 down to break and take the first set 6-4 after an easy forehand into the net from Brady.
The momentum was now firmly with Osaka as she looked more and more confident on return as she continued to use the angles and deep shot-making to force the errors from Brady.
Although the American tried to be aggressive as possible, there was no control when constructing points against a dominant Osaka.
Two breaks of serve in quick and convincing fashion saw a 4-0 lead as a second Australian Open title was in sight.
A mini fight back, saw Brady restore some competitiveness in the contest, with some good serving and controlled aggression from the baseline as the score was reduced to 4-2.
However, unable to take advantage of a half-opportunity in the next game, it wasn’t to be Brady’s day.
Winning two of the next three games, a forehand unforced error from Brady sealed Osaka’s fourth grand slam title and second Australian Open.
It is now 21 victories in a row since the Cincinnati tournament in New York last year.
