Naomi Osaka Tops Jen Brady For Australian Open Title, 4th Major Crown

Naomi Osaka may not be No. 1 in the rankings, but she is the best women’s tennis player in the world right now.

The 23-year-old from Japan beat American Jen Brady, 6-4, 6-3, to win her second Australian Open title and fourth Grand Slam championship. The match was played in front of 7,500 fans — 50 percent capacity — in Rod Laver Arena due to the pandemic.

“I want to thank you guys for coming and watching,” Osaka told the fans while holding the trophy. “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. Thank you so much for coming. Thank you for opening your hearts and your arms towards us.

“For sure I feel like playing a Grand Slam right now is a super privilege and it’s something I won’t take for granted so thank you for this opportunity.”

Osaka has now won four of the last six majors played on hardcourts, including last year’s U.S. Open where she honored African-American victims of police violence with seven masks in seven matches.

Osaka’s fourth title ties her with Kim Clijsters and brings her within one of Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis. Her four wins in her first four major finals trails only Monica Seles’ six in that category.

Osaka, seeded No. 3, takes home $2.1 million for her latest title, while No. 22 Brady earns $1.2 million in her maiden Slam final. In May, Osaka was named by Forbes as the highest-earning female athlete in history with $37.4 million in the previous 12 months from prize money and endorsements, $1.4 million more than Serena Williams,.

While Brady did not have to play anyone ranked inside the Top 25 to advance to the final, Osaka beat two former Grand Slam champions in two-time champion Garbine Muguruza in the fourth round, fending off a match point in the process, and 23-time major winner Williams in the semifinals.

The final featured a rematch of last fall’s U.S. Open semifinal, won by Osaka in three tight sets.

“We played in the semis of the U.S. Open a couple months ago,” Osaka said, “and I told everyone that would listen that you’re going to be a problem and I was right. For me it’s really hard to play you and to see your growth over the past months is really cool for me to see. I know that you’re probably working really hard so I want to congratulate your team as well.”

Brady, a two-time All-American at UCLA, showed her nerves in her maiden Slam final.

She had one of her four double-faults on set point in the first set to give it away, and then quickly got down a break in the second. Osaka was 4-of-5 on break points, while Brady was 2-of-4.

Osaka broke Brady again for a 4-0 lead in the second.

Brady refocused to get one break back and cut it to 4-2.

But with Osaka serving at 5-3, she held at love, winning the the title with a service winner. She coolly walked to the net, bowed and embraced Brady before raising her hands to the crowd.

“She’s such an inspiration to us all and I hope young girls at home are watching and are inspired by what she’s doing,” Brady said of Osaka.

Of her own career, Brady said, “Tonight it wasn’t meant to be, and hopefully there’s many more.”

Osaka will now look forward to improving her game on clay and grass. She has never advanced past the third round at Roland Garros or Wimbledon, but still has plenty of career ahead of her to become more of an all-court player.

“She’s only getting better,” Brady said, “so congratulations.”

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