Japan’s Naomi Osaka got here from a set right down to beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus to win the US Open on Saturday and clinch her third Grand Slam title. Osaka, the fourth seed, overcame her unseeded opponent 1-6, 6-3, 6-Three in 1hr 53min inside a near-empty Arthur Ashe Stadium at Flushing Meadows. It introduced 22-year-old Osaka’s haul of tennis main trophies to 3 after her victories on the 2018 US Open and 2019 Australian Open. Azarenka, 31, sprinted to the primary set in simply 26 minutes, dominating Osaka with an 88 % success price on her first serve.
The Japanese was uncharacteristically sloppy, hitting a whopping 13 unforced errors.
Azarenka then went 2-Zero forward within the second set earlier than Osaka fought again to interrupt her opponent’s serve twice and take a 4-Three lead.
The momentum had shortly swung in Osaka’s favor and he or she broke a 3rd time to take the match to a deciding set.
Osaka loved the primary breakthrough of set three in sport 4 when she broke Azarenka’s serve to take a 3-1 lead.
Azarenka then blew a golden alternative to get again into the match, losing three break factors as Osaka recovered from 0-40 to carry for a 4-1 lead.
Azarenka then saved 4 break factors to make it 4-2 as she battled to maintain the competition alive.
When she broke Osaka in sport seven, the set was again on serve.
However Osaka instantly broke again after Azarenka pushed a forehand extensive to go away herself the chance of serving for the match.
On Osaka’s second championship level, Azarenka discovered the online.
After touching racquets along with her opponent, Osaka lay down in the course of the court docket and appeared up on the sky in celebration.
Osaka had walked onto the court docket carrying a masks bearing the identify of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old African-American boy who was shot useless by a white police officer in Cleveland, Ohio in 2014.
Promoted
Osaka, of Japanese and Haitian heritage, wore completely different masks honoring victims of racial injustice and police brutality in every spherical of the match.
The 2019 Australian Open champion additionally donned face coverings bearing the names of Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd and Philando Castile.
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