Osaka in cruise control to lift Aussie Open crown
Naomi Osaka cemented her status as the dominant force in women’s tennis yesterday with a fourth Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
The Japanese star reclaimed the title she won in 2019 with a dominant 6-4 6-3 victory over first-time Slam finalist, Jennifer Brady, maintaining her perfect record in major finals.
The pair had played a superb match in the semifinals of the US Open last year. But this was only briefly a contest after Osaka overcame some early wobbles to clinch the first set.
The 23-year-old remains behind Ashleigh Barty in the rankings because of the temporary switch to a twoyear system. But there is no doubt Osaka is the best player in the world on hard courts.
She now holds two titles again after winning in New York last September and has extended her winning run to 21 matches, stretching back more than a year, while only Serena and Venus Williams of active players now hold more slam titles.
Brady struggled to handle her nerves in her semi-final victory over Karolina Muchova and a poor game allowed Osaka to break for 3-1.
But both women were missing a lot of first serves in breezy conditions and back came Brady to level at 3-3 in a flurry of Osaka errors.
The next four games were the crunch moments of the match as the pair battled for supremacy in this heavyhitting contest.
Brady withstood pressure to hold for 4-4 but Osaka did the same in the next game
and two poor forehands from Brady – the first wildly overhit and the second into the net from inside the service box – gave up the first set.
It was a huge blow for Brady, who had settled into the match well and was enjoying the occasion. That feeling did not last as Osaka cruised into a 4-0 lead in the second set.
Brady composed herself well, firing up her big forehand once more to pull two games back, and threatened to get back into the match.
But Osaka has proved herself a player more than able to handle herself at the biggest occasions and she calmly served out the match to love.
After stepping on to the podium to collect the trophy, Osaka turned to Brady and said: “Firstly, I want to congratulate Jennifer.
“We played in the semifinals of the US Open and I told everyone that would listen that you’re going to be a problem, and I was right. To see your growth over the past few months is really cool.
“I’d like to thank my team. I’ve been with them too long, a month and some change. They’re like my family. They’re
the ones with me through my training, through my matches, through my nervous talks before my matches, and I’m really appreciative towards them. This one’s for you.
“Lastly, but not least, I want to thank you guys (the fans). Thank you for coming and watching. It feels really incredible. I didn’t play my last grand slam with fans so just to have this energy it really means a lot.
“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.”
EDINBURGH 10 MUNSTER 22
Edinburgh’s quest to finish third in Conference B of this season’s PRO14 – and therefore secure Champions Cup qualification for next season – slipped further out of reach with this defeat.
Richard Cockerill’s men are now 11 points adrift of thirdplaced Scarlets and, although they have two games in hand, they need their Welsh rivals to slip-up.
It started well for the hosts as they took advantage of Munster indiscipline which saw the Irishmen give away four penalties in the first eight minutestoedgeintoa3-0lead when Jaco van der Walt fired home the points following an offside almost directly in front of the away team’s posts.
Munster bounced straight back, with JJ Hanrahan squaring it after Dave Cherry was called for hands in the ruck on his own 22.
Andrew Davidson was held up over the line, after a clever backrow move saw Eroni Sau make good yards up the middle of the park, but that was as good as it got for Edinburgh in the first half.
A Pierre Schoeman knock-on gifted Munster a scrum in which they pulverised the home pack to earn a penalty, and the visitors then worked their way all the way up field to take the lead when blindside flanker Jack O’donoghue powered home.
Jaco van der Walt then kicked the restart straight out, which put Edinburgh’s struggling scrum right back under pressure on halfway.
Munster worked their way back into Edinburgh’s 22, and it was scrum-half Craig Casey who eventually claimed the inevitable try when he propelled himself over after some excellent driving play from his forwards.
Edinburgh started the second period in better style, with Pyrgos angling a brilliant low kick into the corner, and Viliame Mata burrowing over.
Van der Walt added the conversion, and it was – almost miraculously given how the previous 20 minutes before half-time had gone – suddenly a seven-point game.
But Munster were soon back on the front foot, and No. 8 Gavin Coombes powered over the line for his seventh try of the season after another telling incursion from the base by Casey.
This time, Hanrahan’s conversion hit the upright.
To their credit, Edinburgh weren’t ready to let go of this game quite yet and set up camp under the shadow of Munster’s posts.
They picked up a succession of scrum penalties, but they couldn’t make it count, and when South African recruit Boan Venter was sent on at loosehead, his first involvement was to give away a crucial free-kick at the next scrum.
Munster activated the pressure release valve and try as they might, Edinburgh couldn’t get back into the strike zone.
With the game in overtime, Andrew Davidson was treated on the field for several minutes before being stretchered off.