US Open: Naomi Osaka turns final against Victoria Azarenka and triumphs in New York!
The winner of the individual competition at the US Open 2020 is Naomi Osaka ! The Japanese prevailed in the final against Victoria Azarenka with 1: 6, 6: 3 and 6: 3 and won the third Grand Slam success of her career. ( You can read the match here in our tracker. )
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Sep 13, 2020, 12:17 am
One thing was already certain before the final: The winner of the duel between Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka would celebrate her third Grand Slam success. Osaka had triumphed at the US Open 2018 and the Australian Open 2019, Azarenka had left Melbourne as the winner in 2012 and 2013.
Due to the performances shown so far in the tournament, one could expect a final at an extremely high level, but in the final only Azarenka was able to follow up on her strong performances from the previous rounds. The 31-year-old managed an early break to 1-0 and again took the service from her opponent to 4-1. While Azarenka produced some great tennis, Osaka made way too many mistakes - nine unforced mistakes after only five games were an indication of a classic false start for the Japanese.
Azarenka wins set one after 26 minutes
Osaka didn't play any better in the further course of the round either, after only 26 minutes the opening set of the final went 6-1 to Azarenka. The service provided by the Belarusian was particularly impressive: 16 out of 17 first serves landed in the field, and the 27th world ranking won. three quarters of the points.
In the second section nothing changed in the game. Azarenka remained the much better player and was able to transfer her superiority to the scoreboard. She took the serve to 2-0 from Osaka, but then had to accept the immediate rebreak - the 22-year-old Osaka cheered herself on for the first time.
Osaka is improving enormously
This break should have an effect on Azarenka. The 31-year-old only made significantly more mistakes and gave her opponent a 4-3 lead with a weak service game. Osaka, on the other hand, now showed the tennis that had brought them to the final and won set two after another break 6: 3. The world number ninth beat 16 winners in the second section with only five unforced errors.
It felt like Osaka was the better player in a meanwhile extremely respectable final at the beginning of the third section. Azarenka tried to counter it with a lot of emotion, but had to accept the break to make it 3-1, missed a 40-0 lead in the following game and shortly afterwards was confronted with a 4-1 deficit.
Azarenka's comeback remains unrewarded
Osaka now had the momentum on their side and found four break opportunities to make it 5-1. Azarenka was able to fend off all of these and reduce them to 2: 4. Visibly impressed by the fighting strength of the Belarusian, Osaka then gave up their serve after a 40:15 lead - suddenly everything was open again in this final.
Osaka did not let this setback disturb them, got another break and served to win the tournament. The Japanese had no problems with this task, transformed her second match point and crowned herself the winner of the US Open 2020 after 1:52 hours.
With the 1: 6, 6: 3 and 6: 3 success, Osaka secured the third Grand Slam title of their career. Next Monday, the 22-year-old will also be ranked third in the world.