Naomi Osaka has claimed her second Grand Slam title after a three-set battle with Klitova
Her US Open victory last year was largely overshadowed by the tense standoff between Serena Williams and chair umpire Carlos Ramos. The umpire’s decision to level point and game penalties against the all-time great became the focus in the aftermath of that match.
This time there was no such controversy surrounding Naomi Osaka’s Grand Slam victory.
After taking the first set and having three championship points at 5-3 in the second, Osaka threatened to implode when Kvitova fought back to claim a one-sided tie-breaker and level the game at one set apiece.
Osaka was screaming at herself in frustration and even slammed a ball off the court.
The devastated 21-year-old left the court at the end of the set to try and regain her composure — and that she did.
She came out in the third set and broke Kvitova early on and didn’t let up.
Kvitova stood tall to save three break points and keep herself in the hunt at 3-4. Osaka was then given a helping hand when she was encouraged by the chair umpire to challenge when one of her shots was called out.
“I’m not sure, it’s a close one. It’s your last challenge,” the official said.
The ball was shown to have landed in, giving Osaka a reprieve, and while she didn’t explicitly tell Osaka to challenge, commentators were in no doubt it was a “code” used to tell the No. 4 seed to go upstairs.
“The chair umpire told her to challenge. That is the code, for sure,” Jim Courier said.
Osaka went up 40-0 at 5-4 and she didn’t make the same mistakes she did in the second set, showing much better composure to serve it out and win the championship.
Osaka, the US Open champion, becomes the first female player since Serena Williams in 2015 to win back-to-back majors.
The 21-year-old Japanese star also becomes the first woman since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 win the following major after her maiden grand slam triumph.
In an added bonus, Osaka also claims the world No. 1 ranking from Romanian Simona Halep.
