Naomi Osaka was once again champion at the US Open Saturday evening. Breaking a 25-year record of being down a set early, the Japanese superstar overcame the 1-6 start and defeated a surging Victoria Azarenka in three sets 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 at Arthur Ashe Stadium at the Billy Jean King National Tennis Center.
This was the fourth meeting between the two players that were supposed to meet in the season’s previous final. Azarenka and Osaka both battled through the Western and Southern Open only to miss a chance at playing. To make sure that she would damage herself and her chances at a successful US Open, Osaka decided to withdraw and hand the Belorussian the title.
In the major final, both were not making excuses to put on a great show as they once again faced one another. For Azarenka, it would be a third grand slam title and the first since 2012. Osaka vied for her third as well having won the Open two years ago. She holds the series lead 2-1 with both coming on clay. Though both are good on the hard courts and have speedy forehands, the match would go great lengths to determine a champion whether it be a new or previous winner.
Osaka opened service but had troubles early with the forehand committing errors. With the early lead, Azarenka conducted a strong service game setting up her strikes to force errors from the fourth seed. Osaka tried ironing out the problems but return errors from the Belorussian helped her get on the board in the third.
The 31-year-old refused to play defense in the fourth and continued to force the issue upon the Japanese superstar. After holding yet again, Azarenka locked down the double break on the 2018 champion taking a commanding 4-1 stand. Osaka earned a shot at turning the tables in the sixth but consistency on hitting through her opponent’s returns blew her chance on deuce and would serve to extend the set. Despite her chance to hold for the first time since the third, Azarenka forced deuce and reached set point to end a dismal 27 minutes for the fourth seed.
The Belorussian was at 94 percent from her first serve and won 75 percent of points from it. Osaka had 13 errors in total and was outscored 27-15 through seven games played. With near perfect ball placement, the 31-year-old had the leverage that included serving to open the second.
She wasted little time in blasting away at the 22-year-old who struggled to get in place of the shots coming across. Osaka was down 2-0 and a break to the Belorussian who focused on the backhand which wasn’t the Japanese star’s strong suit. Though it took a fight to deuce, the fourth seed managed to break back in the third, ending the shutout, and hope that she could build upon it.
Scoring two aces in the fourth, Osaka consolidated the break with a much-needed service that put her level for the first time in the match. They remained on serve through three games until a huge move from the 22-year-old where she placed herself in the right place for Azarenka’s shots. The success led to a break, giving her a 4-3 lead and an open road to dictate the set.
Producing strategic counterattacks against the crosscourt forehand of Azarenka led to a strong hold for Osaka in the eight. The 22-year-old dug into the longest game of the match that spanned eight minutes and 16 points to send them to a decider after 40 minutes elapsed.
With nothing left but to play out the third set, Osaka opened with a service hold followed by Azarenka as they made it their mission to get the other to break. Osaka earned the moment to break her opponent as the service speeds differed between the two. The 22-year-old notched a pair of winners in the third that gave her the lead. Azarenka had very little momentum left as her serve struggled to get the ball over the net right.
It resulted in a double break for the Japanese star who was well in control of her game in the late stages of the match. With the service in the fifth, Osaka surprisingly fell into a 0-40 hole but managed to force deuce. It took only a service break to capture the AD point and reach 4-1 over the Belorussian. When it looked as if another break would into the hands of Osaka, the 31-year-old fought to the brink to force deuce. She went five breaks and eight minutes into game six with the award of holding serve.
Azarenka used pinpoint accuracy on her returns to force deuce again in the seventh. A break was all that was needed for the former world number one to get within one game of leveling. A bad service game for Azarenka gave her opponent the 5-3 lead with her shot at serving for a second US Open championship. She smashed the winners across court forcing errors from Azarenka inching closer to victory. A long return from the 31-year-old brought match point to Osaka, who erred on a long rally between them.
On her second attempt, a final rally ended with the Belorussian returning into the net to close the match in 1 hour and 53 minutes. For the third time, Azarenka was denied a title in New York, losing her strength in what became a drawn-out match due to Osaka’s surge in offense.
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