Osaka kept her poise in win over Williams
NEW YORK — Amid all the controversy that swirled around the end to the match, Naomi Osaka kept her cool, just as she had kept control.
Osaka became the first Japanese woman to win a Grand Slam title on Saturday night when she defeated Serena Williams in two sets on Arthur Ashe Stadium Court.
As Williams got into a right old dustup with chair umpire Carlos Ramos in the second set, the fact was that the alltime great was in a right old tussle with the 20-year-old who idolizes her.
But after Williams was broken twice in the first set to lose it 6-2, it looked less and less like Osaka was going to lose it. After Williams was docked a game for a third code violation to make the score 5-3 Osaka, she held serve for 5-4. Then, with the absolute poised she had shown throughout — precise groundstrokes, good service returns, fleet of foot — Osaka served out the match.
Osaka’s tennis dreams and her affection for Williams began in Elmont. She is the daughter of a Haitian father and a Japanese mother, and her father wanted to be close to his relatives on Long Island. Being inspired by the Williams sisters, he introduced Naomi and sister Mari to tennis while they were in grade school and they went to the U.S. Open. Naomi’s game blossomed after the family moved to Florida.
“When I was growing up, I did a whole report on her in third grade,” Osaka said on Saturday night. “I colored it and everything. I said, I want to be like her.”
Point for point on Saturday night, she was like her. At times, considerably better. And when she met Williams at the net after winning, amidst all the hullabaloo, there were tears.
“When I hugged her at the net, I felt like a little kid again,” Osaka said.
Osaka said that she was so much into the match that she didn’t know what all the arguing was about.
“I didn’t really hear anything because I had my back turned, so I didn’t really know there was anything going on at the moment,” Osaka said.
“I mean, the crowd was really noisy, so I really didn’t hear. Like, I really didn’t hear anything that was going on. And when I turned around, um, it was 5-3, so I was a little bit confused then. But for me, I felt like I really had to focus during this match because she’s such a great champion, and I know that she can come back from
any point. I was just trying to focus on myself at that time.”
Williams fined 17,000 dollars for outburst during US Open final
NEW YORK — Serena Williams has been fined 17,000 dollars for her outburst during the US Open final on Saturday night, the US Tennis Association (USTA) said Sunday.
The American lost the final to Naomi Osaka of Japan 6-2, 6-4, but it was her controversial outburst over chair umpire Carlos Ramos’ assessment of penalties, for receiving coaching from the box, then for racquet abuse and verbal abuse, that got most of the attention.
Williams was fined 4,000 for the coaching violation, 3,000 for destroying her racquet and 10,000 for verbal abuse, a USTA official said. The fines are in accordance with the grand slam rule book, the official added.
Williams defended her outburst in her post-match press conference as necessary to point out a double standard between the way women are treated when they complain compared to the way men are treated.
Former US tennis star Billie Jean King weighed in on the matter late Saturday, defending Williams on Twitter and thanking her for calling out a double standard and said coaching should be allowed as it is in World Team Tennis, a US league that she helped found.
Novak Djokovic beats Juan Martin del Potro for 14th Grand Slam title
NEW YORK — Officially, Juan Martin del Potro hit 31 clean winners in Sunday’s U.S. Open men’s final against Novak Djokovic. It could be argued that he hit at least double that number, except that the lunging, sprawling, contortionist Djokovic kept returning to sender.
It was a typical performance by Djokovic, the rubbery 31-year-old Serb, resulting in a 6-3,7-6 (4), 6-3 victory that gave him a 14th major-tournament title — equaling Pete Sampras and trailing only Roger Federer’s 20 and Rafael Nadal’s 17.
“I’m very sad for being a loser today,” del Potro said. “But Novak deserved to have the trophy. He played a great match, a very smart game. I was looking for winners with my forehand, backhand, but I couldn’t make it, because Novak was there every time.”
It was a match between friends who are evidence of modern medical success. Del Potro, the 29-year-old Argentinian who won the 2009 Open, is back at his best after a series of wrist surgeries, ranked a career high No. 3. Djokovic, winner of the 2011 and 2015 Opens and a former No. 1, is on a rollicking roll in recent months, including July’s Wimbledon title, since having elbow surgery in February.
To be playing at this level, del Potro said, “makes me feel alive again.” For Djokovic, too. “You learn when you’re down and things are not working out as you want them to,” he said. He has come to the conclusion that his time away during rehabilitation re-energized an already rousing career.
“I felt the six months off served me well,” Djokovic said, “to find new motivation, inspiration, to recharge my batteries, and also to understand how I want to continue playing tennis. That’s sometimes nice to have, even though you don’t want to be injured.”
As a snapshot of Sunday night’s match, the eighth game of the second set served quite well. Djokovic, up a set, was serving at 3-4 when the two proceeded to play 23 points. They went to deuce nine times. Djokovic saved three break points, but del Potro staved off six Djokovic game points before Djokovic at last converted to hold serve.
Amid the shouts and murmurs of a fully involved Ashe Stadium crowd — especially the del Potro friends who constantly raised “delPo” chants between points — the protagonists brought to that game overhead smashes, drop shots, volleys, scrambling defensive gets, searing passing shots, a double fault, crosscourt rockets. They played 58 rallies of nine or more shots.