Osaka eyes 4th Grand Slam title
Whether or not Naomi Osaka claims the Australian Open championship — and make no mistake, she will be expected to win — this much seems certain: Tennis has a new dominant force.
Sure, it’s clearly possible that Osaka could be beaten by the 22ndseeded American Jennifer Brady in the title match at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
Brady is, after all, emerging as a force on hard courts, too, thanks to a big serve and big forehand. She pushed Osaka to three sets before losing to her in the U.S. Open semifinals last September, then shrugged off a twoweek hard quarantine in Australia to reach her first Grand Slam final.
It is the thirdseeded Osaka, though, who overpowered and overwhelmed Serena Williams in the semifinals Thursday; is riding a 20match winning streak; has spent time at No. 1 in the rankings; and is seeking her second Australian Open title and fourth Slam trophy.
And she is still only 23.
Like 23time major champion Williams, there is a determination that Osaka manages to display when the finish line is near on their sport’s most important stages: She has run her record to a combined 110 in Grand Slam quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
Osaka often speaks about wanting more consistency, whether that’s at lowerlevel WTA tournaments or at every Grand Slam event.
She does occasionally stumble early at the majors, such as a thirdround exit a year ago as the defending champion in Australia or a firstround loss at Wimbledon in 2019.
But once she gets close to the end, she seals the deal.
“For me, I have this mentality that people don’t remember the runnersup. You might, but the winner’s name is the one that’s engraved,” explained Osaka, who was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Haitian father before the family moved to New York when she was 3.
“I think I fight the hardest in the finals,” she continued. “I think that’s where you sort of set yourself apart.”
Williams had been 80 in Australian Open semifinals until Osaka put a stop to that by winning 63, 64, reeling off the last eight points of the match after the second set was even at 4all.
Brady acknowledged that she expects to deal with some nerves against Osaka this time.
That’s only natural, given the stakes.
The key will be limiting how much — and for how long — that affects her play.
“Listen, I don’t know how I’m going to feel on Saturday,” Brady said. “I can say I can enjoy the moment and just try to play tennis and not really think too much about it. But there’s going to be moments, there’s going to be games, there’s going to be points, where I’m going to be thinking about, ‘Wow, this could be my first Grand Slam title.’
“Yeah, I will definitely have those thoughts. But it’s more just trying to control the emotions, really.”
Men’s final: After No. 1 Novak Djokovic committed only one unforced error in more than 50 minutes Thursday in blowing out 114thranked Russian Aslan Karatsev 63, 64, 62, moving to 90 in Australian Open semifinals and one win from a ninth title, the Serb had already set his plans for Friday.
Djokovic said he’ll get the popcorn ready to watch No. 4 Daniil Medvedev and No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas square off in the other semifinal to see who he’ll play in Sunday's final.
“Recovery is the priority right now,” Djokovic said. “I’ve had enough match play, enough practice. Right now it’s just gathering all the necessary energy for the most important match of the Australian Open.”
Brayden Schenn tied it late in the third period and David Perron scored on a power play in overtime in the Blues’ 32 victory over the Sharks on Thursday night in St. Louis.
With goaltender Jordan Binnington pulled for an extra attacker, Schenn capitalized on a rebound off Mike Hoffman’s shot to tie it with 39.2 seconds left in the third.
“It’s always a gut punch when you give up one at the end,” Sharks defenseman Brent Burns said. “It’s tough. It’s kind of a quick, quick, bangbang play, lands randomly on the guy’s stick and he puts it in.”
Perron ended it with a minute left in overtime, beating goalie Martin Jones through the legs on a onetimer off a feed from Hoffman. Perron also had two assists.
John Leonard gave the Sharks a 21 lead with 5:29 left in the second when a bouncing puck off a faceoff found him all alone in front of the St. Louis net.
The goal came just over a minute after Jones, who stopped 42 shots, made two dazzling saves on a bangbang chance by Ryan O’Reilly and Ivan Barbashev.
“We got through the middle of the ice and when we did kick it out, we had guys going to the net and around the blue paint and we’re stopping hard at the net,” Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. “Both goalies made some big saves at the key times and I think that we’ve got to just keep working at it.”
Maple Leafs 7, Senators 3: Auston Matthews scored his 15th and 16th goals to pad his NHL lead and had two assists to help host Toronto thump Ottawa. Matthews has scored those 16 goals in 17 games played.
Kings 3, Coyotes 2: Gabriel Vilardi scored in the fourth round of a shootout, Jonathan Quick stopped 20 shots and Los Angeles beat host Arizona. The Kings jumped out to a 20 lead in the first period on goals by Dustin Brown and Jeff Carter. Penguins 4, Islanders 1: Sidney Crosby picked up his sixth goal of the season, Tristan Jarry stopped 31 shots and Pittsburgh held off visiting New York.
Devils 3, Bruins 2: Kyle Palmieri scored two goals to lead visiting New Jersey to its second straight victory since returning from a twoweek COVID19 pause.
Capitals 3, Sabres 1: Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson and Conor Sheary scored, Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves and host Washington beat Buffalo for its second straight win after a fourgame losing streak.
Blue Jackets 3, Predators 0: Elvis Merzlikins made 32 saves in his first start since coming off injured reserve, Cam Atkinson scored his teamleading seventh goal and host Columbus beat Nashville.
Rangers 3, Flyers 2:
Kaapo Kakko and Artemi Panarin scored in the shootout to give host New York a win over Philadelphia, snapping a fourgame skid.
Wild 3, Ducks 1: Ryan Hartman and Kevin Fiala scored 38 seconds apart in the first period, and Minnesota held on to beat host Anaheim.