tennis

Osaka reaches Australian Open final, closing in on world No. 1 ranking

29 Comments
By Howard Fendrich

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29 Comments
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Naomi has won the Australian open and beat Petra Kavitova in the final today . Congratulations Naomi for your victory.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Love that look on her face.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What's with all the nationality comments? For whatever reason (stupidity ranks high), the players have to have a national flag next to their names in these tournaments. My Osaka-born kids would face the same problem.

She is who she is. Name Osaka, born Osaka, young, beautiful, and winning.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Naomi-chan played really well. I hope she will play like first set she played today on Saturday with Kvitova. I hope she will win the Australian Open championship on Saturday. Naomi-chan is better and better. Well done Naomi-chan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Well done Naomi , you are destined to succeed and win the championship Keep it up .

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Great job Naomi.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Amazing, she is only 21, virtually unknown 1 year ago, and now on the verge of becoming No. 1 female tennis player in the world!

I know, right!? Did she have many fans when she was starting out?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I know absolutely beans about tennis but I'm really happy for her. Don't know what else to say. Always nice when great athletes are also likable people!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

That's a wonderful shot. Captures her joy really well.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

1 more to go.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I see in Osaka a great young tennis player. So good for the game to have fresh stars in the making.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Come on Nao Chan! Hoping she will become the first Japanese tennis player to win 2 GS titles!

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Congrats on the big win. One to go - but it'll be tough.

And to those who think she's come from nowhere - well to real tennis fans she's been on the radar for years.

Most sports fans are not die-hards, just fairweather, latching onto any fad or fame that blows.

Naomi was a super teenager who has just naturally morphed into a super adult player.

In fact she made the 3rd or 4th round of this same Australian Open in 2016 as an 18year old.

I've been following her for at least 5 years - since she beat Sam Stosur in 2014.

She'll be winning for a while yet.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

She's got a vicious serve. It's tough beating someone with that kind of serve. Also, her volleys were a lot stronger and faster than Pliskova's.

Osaka made quite a few unforced errors. If she gets that under control she'll take the final.

10 ( +13 / -3 )

@kohakuebisu: Agreed! She handled herself well when Serena disgraced herself permanently in front of the world by throwing a tantrum in the US Opens. Her reputation stained forever and cannot be unseen

5 ( +12 / -7 )

Back-to-back grand slam finals, well done Osaka! Still early days but it seems she's a big-games player, mentally tough & doesn't crumble under pressure.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

She is also very consistent and can whack out big winners when she wants to attack. She is in fact so good at tennis that I would doubt there is very much extra commercial benefit to her being Japanese. A young new World Number 1 who's level-headed and speaks well in interviews, even when her opponent has descended into histrionics, will be a huge commercial proposition regardless of nationality.

11 ( +11 / -0 )

Well done. She’s now my all time favourite Japanese player together with Date!!

10 ( +13 / -3 )

GRANDSLAM it Naomi!

7 ( +11 / -4 )

Well done to her.

-10 ( +2 / -12 )

Well done Naomi chan, win the finals too.

12 ( +16 / -4 )

Unbelievable! GO GO Naomi-chan! Win the Major and get that Number 1 rank! I can see Naomi-chan dominate for many years, if she keeps fit and no injuries. Great photo, she looks so happy!

11 ( +18 / -7 )

Good for her!

15 ( +18 / -3 )

I would also propose that it was also a big win for Haitian tennis as her father is from Haiti .....

-6 ( +15 / -21 )

Incredibly well played by Naomi and hopefully she can keep up her form on Saturday! A big win for Japanese tennis!

8 ( +15 / -7 )

Close game, but she won Ladbrokes have her at $2.10 and Kvitová $1.73, suppose that comes from her loss of focus is the second game.

9 ( +12 / -3 )

Amazing, she is only 21, virtually unknown 1 year ago, and now on the verge of becoming No. 1 female tennis player in the world! And already the most successful Japanese (if not asian) tennis player ever. Congratulations, and good luck on Saturday!

16 ( +22 / -6 )

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