After emerging victorious at the Japan Women’s Open, Naomi Osaka has now won the 2019 China Open.
Her second consecutive WTA title, Osaka beat world No.1 Ashleigh Barty 3-6 6-3 6-2 in Beijing. The youngster had a busy year winning the Australian Open against Petra Kvitova but suffering an early defeat in the round of 16 at the US Open to Belinda Bencic.
The world No.4 was down the first set committing three double faults in a single game and fought her way back up to win the next two sets. In her post match interview, Osaka said:
“I was telling myself to keep fighting even though my attitude was really trash. I just really wanted to win here.”
Osaka had a tough draw facing Wuhan finalist Alison Riske in the round of 16, US Open champion Bianca Andreescu in the quarterfinals and former world No.1 and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki in the semi-finals.
Also Read:
Ranked world No.1 at the beginning of this year, Osaka was replaced by Barty but in a twist of fate, she clinched the China Open title by beating the Aussie.
Barty seemed to be troubled by her shoulder through the match and played with strapping on her left calf but played on claiming an early lead despite losing the next two sets in the match that ran for one hour and fifty minutes.
The pair had previously met three times with Barty winning twice.
At only 21 years of age, Osaka became the first Japanese woman to win a Grand Slam singles tournament defeating Serena Williams in 2018. Williams also suffered a defeat to Andreescu this year at the finals of the US Open.
In a short career span, Osaka has managed to claim her third title of the year and her fifth career title and is propelling towards a long and successful career.
Be the first to comment