U.S. Open women’s champ Osaka makes her statement
The 22-year-old three-time Grand Slam champ brought seven masks with messages,
NEW YORK – Before she even struck a ball at the U.S. Open, Naomi Osaka wore her heart on her face. She wanted the world to see it, even if there were no fans here to see it. It was right there on her mask, a required piece of equipment for everybody inside the modified bubble that the 2020 U.S. Open was contested in.
Twelve days ago, Osaka came on court for her first-round match with the name Breonna Taylor, an EMT from Louisville who was shot by police as they entered her apartment on a noknock warrant, on her mask. She said she had six more masks and wanted to make the finals so she could wear all seven. She accomplished her mission.
For Saturday’s final against Victoria Azarenka, Osaka remembered Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old from Cleveland who was shot by police in a park almost six years ago. Then she had her worst set of the tournament, spraying balls, serving poorly and getting chased all over Queens by the 31-year-old Azarenka, a former world No. 1 and twotime major champion whose charge back to the top of the sport has been one of the best stories of 2020, a year that has not brought much of any good news.
What was she thinking?
“I just thought this would be very embarrassing to lose this in under an hour,” Osaka said.
She is a 22-year-old of Haitian and Japanese descent, a woman with big hair and a bigger game. She is also now a three-time Grand Slam champion after she won her second Open title, edging Azarenka 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. It was a match that showcased two champions with a surplus of guts – one that produced careening emotions, crazy momentum swings and ultimately two sets of sensational tennis by a woman whose masks and social consciousness have made her the face of the tournament, if not the entire sport.
Azarenka was nearly as good, two titans of women’s tennis producing throbbing suspense that didn’t require fans to be sustained.
Osaka and Azarenka were supposed to play the final of the Western & Southern Open two weeks ago, inside the same Flushing Meadows bubble they still found themselves in Saturday. It never came about because Osaka had a cranky hamstring and wanted to make sure she was healthy for the Open. They finally got it on on a breezy afternoon with a hint of autumn in the air. It was worth the wait.
After the first-set debacle was done, Osaka did to Azarenka what the 31-yearold Azarenka did to Serena Williams in her semifinal victory Thursday night. Azarenka was a virtual no-show in her first set against Williams, and then morphed into a ball-striking machine, wrecking Williams’ shot at winning her 24th major title.
Osaka likewise was a no-show, but she pushed on, trying to get herself going, bouncing up and down and slapping her heavily wrapped left thigh with her fist.
“I think I could have easily faded away, but I really wanted to fight, just complete,” Osaka said. “Honestly, there wasn't really another thought in my mind. I wasn't really thinking about winning, I was just thinking about competing."