Flushing Meadows delight for Naomi
Naomi Osaka had to show all her battling qualities as she came from a set down to win the US Open, beating Victoria Azarenka 1-6 6-3 6-3 in New York.
Azarenka played a stunning first set to take control of the Final.
In her first grand slam final for seven years, the Belarusian hassled and harried title favourite Osaka to win the opening set 6-1 after just 27 minutes.
Osaka, the champion in New York two years ago, had her serve broken three times.
Azarenka maintained her momentum through the first two games of the second set but Osaka broke back for 2-1 and that proved to be a crucial moment.
A few errors had started to come from the Azarenka racket while Osaka, the more powerful player, was able to play points on her terms.
She forged into the lead in the set with a break for 4-3 and took her second set point to win it 6-3 and level the Final.
And Osaka maintained the upper hand in the final set, taking it 6-3 to clinch her second US crown.
■ Scotland’s Gordon Reid and England’s Alfie Hewett continued their domination of wheelchair men’s doubles at the US Open with a fourth consecutive title.
The top seeds were comprehensive 6-4 6-1 winners over French duo, Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer.
Hewett, 22, has only ever lost one match at Flushing Meadows and he will bid to make it a hat-trick of singles titles when he takes on Shingo Kunieda in the Final today.
■ Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev will bid to grab their chance to step out of the shadows of their illustrious contemporaries when they clash in the men’s Final tonight.
For the first time since Andy Murray’s Wimbledon Final win over Milos Raonic in 2016, a combination of health concerns and errant volleys has contrived to serve up a Grand Slam final shorn of the sport’s big three.
For Thiem, who beat Daniil Medvedev in three tight sets in Friday’s semifinal, it represents a fourth opportunity to scale the final hurdle, having previously come up short against Rafael Nadal (twice) and Novak Djokovic.
And for the 23-year-old Zverev – the youngest men’s finalist in a grand slam for a decade – it is chance to make good on overdue expectations and anoint himself the leader of his sport’s new age.
Austrian Thiem insisted he will not feel any additional pressure at starting as the heavy favourite.
That’s in stark contrast to his previous finals when, on two occasions, he started as a virtual no-hoper only to push the big-name favourite to the brink.
Thiem said: “I won’t change my mindset at all – I know what Sascha is capable of.
“From the moment that Novak was out of the tournament, it was clear that there is going to be a new Grand Slam champion. From that moment on, it was out of my mind.
“Now it’s just Sascha remaining – the last one.
“He is a hell of player, one of the greatest in the last few years, and has won all the titles besides a major.
“For me, it doesn’t really matter whether it is him or one of the big three.”
Zverev said: “Sunday is going to be extremely difficult, but I’m looking forward to it.
“Obviously I’m happy to be in the Final, but there’s still one more step to go.”