NEW DAWN RISING
Osaka’s second chance to seize the spotlight
NAOMI Osaka’s shining moment at last year’s US Open was unfortunately cast in the shadow of Serana Williams.
Williams’ bid for a 24th major title collapsed as she unleashed angry accusations at the chair umpire, which overshadowed the maiden victory of Osaka.
Today the 21-year-old Japanese juggernaut gets another chance to seize the spotlight as she and Czech comeback queen Petra Kvitova duel not only for the Australian Open title, but also the world No. 1 ranking in the Melbourne Park blockbuster.
However, Osaka faces a difficult proposition.
Kvitova is in inspired form, riding her own 11-match winning streak, and hoping to cap a remarkable comeback to professional tennis just 25 months after doctors feared she’d never play again.
CRUELLY cast into the giant shadow of Serena Williams last time around, it’s only fitting that Naomi Osaka has another chance to seize the spotlight in tonight’s highstakes Australian Open final.
Osaka, the Japanese juggernaut threatening to overhaul women’s tennis, and Czech comeback queen Petra Kvitova will not only duel for the Australian Open Women’s singles title, but also the prized world No.1 ranking in the Melbourne Park blockbuster.
For Osaka, it’s also an opportunity to take centre stage and assume her seemingly inevitable position as the new benchmark in the women’s game after Williams robbed the 21-year-old of her shining moment with her extraordinary US Open final meltdown in September.
Unfairly reduced to tears during the trophy presentation in New York, Osaka still prefers to recall only the positives she extracted from what should have been the most memorable experience of her life.
“It definitely helped knowing that I won the US Open because I knew that I had the ability to win that many matches, play for that long,” Osaka said when asked how her Flushing Meadows breakthrough helped her during her charge to the Melbourne final.
“I was thinking about that while I was playing this tournament but, at the same time, I didn’t want to dwell too much on it.”
Bidding to become the first woman since Williams in 2015 to land successive slams, Osaka accepts the enormity of the task in front of her.
Kvitova is in inspired form, riding her own 11-match winning streak, and hoping to cap a remarkable comeback to professional tennis just 25 months after doctors feared she’d never play again.
But with the 28-year-old’s hand and mind healed after the trauma of being stabbed in her own home by a stranger before Christmas in 2016, Kvitova is intent on making the most of her “second career” and emulating the courageous comeback of fellow stabbing victim Monica Seles by winning the Australian Open.
“I didn’t even know if I was going to play tennis again,” Kvitova said. “To be honest, I’m still not really believing I’m in the final.”