Japan yesterday Naomi Osaka’s stunning upset against Serena Williams to win the US Open, giving the nation some rare good news after a summer of deadly natural disasters.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led the praise, taking to Twitter to congratulate Osaka after her 6-2, 6-4 win in New York.
“Congratulations on your victory at the US Open. The first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam title. Thank you for giving energy and inspiration to the whole of Japan,” Abe wrote.
Photo: AFP
Abe was on his way to the northern island of Hokkaido, where a massive earthquake last week sparked landslides that buried houses in a rural town, killing at least 37 people and injuring hundreds of others.
Osaka’s grandfather Tetsuo Osaka, 73, lives in Hokkaido and said he wept watching his granddaughter on television.
“It still hasn’t sunk in for me yet. The moment she won, my wife and I rejoiced together. I was so happy, I cried,” he told public broadcaster NHK.
“I hope she stays healthy and continues her good work. I also hope she wins at the Tokyo Olympics” in 2020, he said.
Fellow Japanese tennis star Kei Nishikori flooded Twitter with emojis of trophies, thumbs up and Japanese flags, followed by a simple tweet of “proud” alongside a Japanese flag.
Tsuyoshi Fukui, a former top Japanese player and now senior official at the Japanese Tennis Association, said Osaka’s performance would help to cheer the country up after typhoons, floods and earthquakes dominated the headlines this summer.
Osaka’s “tenacious and patient performance ... must have been a great show of encouragement to those Japanese people who saw damage from such things as typhoons and earthquakes,” Fukui told Japanese media.
Meanwhile, NHK took a break from its round-the-clock coverage of the disaster to turn to happier news.
“Osaka wins women’s US Open, becomes first Japanese to win Grand Slam,” was the broadcaster’s top headline.
Sports Nippon said Osaka had achieved a “complete victory” against an “irritated Serena who broke her racket.”
The Asahi Shimbun said on Twitter it would be printing an extra edition and distributing it in Tokyo.
The final will probably be remembered for a meltdown from Williams who called the chair umpire a “thief” as much as for the 20-year-old’s historic win.
Williams’s tantrum overshadowed an outstanding performance from Osaka, who made her second career title a Grand Slam after winning her first at Indian Wells in March.
Osaka has dual Japanese-American citizenship and often replies to questions from Japan’s media in English, apologizing for not knowing the appropriate word when she speaks Japanese.
After earning US$3.8 million for the victory, Osaka said her next goal was a simple one: win her next tournament in Tokyo.
Asked if she was prepared for the reception she would receive as the nation’s first Grand Slam winner, Osaka said: “Apparently not, because people keep asking me that.”
In other matches, Taiwanese players exited at the semi-finals stage.
Wimbledon winner and No. 1-ranked Tseng Chun-hsin was defeated 6-2, 6-4 by Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil in the boys’ singles on Saturday. Wild was to play Lorenzo Musetti in the final.
In the girls’ doubles, Joanna Garland of Taiwan and Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima lost 6-2, 6-2 to US pair Caty McNally and Cori Gauff.
Additional reporting by staff writer
FRUSTRATION: Alcaraz made several unforced errors over four sets against Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who had never made it past the third round in a major competition Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz reached the fourth round of the French Open after laboring past Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the Friday night session. The second-seeded Spaniard had never before played Dzumhur, a 33-year-old Bosnian who had never been past the third round at any major tournament. “I suffered quite a lot today,” Alcaraz said. “The first two sets was under control, then he started to play more deeply and more aggressively. It was really difficult for me.” Dzumhur hurt his left knee in a fall in the second round, and had treatment on Friday on his right leg during the
‘DREAM’: The 5-0 victory was PSG’s first Champions League title, and the biggest final win by any team in the 70-year history of the top-flight European competition Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League for the first time as Luis Enrique’s brilliant young side outclassed Inter on Saturday in the most one-sided final ever with teenager Desire Doue scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory. Doue supplied the pass for Achraf Hakimi to give PSG an early lead and the 19-year-old went from provider to finisher as his deflected shot doubled the advantage in the 20th minute. Doue scored again just after the hour mark, ending any doubt about the outcome before Khvicha Kvaratskhelia ran away to get the fourth and substitute Senny Mayulu, another teenager, made it five. Inter were
The Greek basketball league finals between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos were suspended by the government on Monday following on-court scuffles involving rival security teams. The best-of-five series is at 1-1. The third game, scheduled for today, has been postponed. The owners of both clubs were summoned to meet with the country’s sports minister. They “will be asked to provide explicit guarantees that this situation will be brought to an end. If not, this year’s championship will be definitively canceled,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said. “There can be no tolerance for such pathological phenomena of violence and delinquency.” In online posts, the owners of Panathinaikos and
The Edmonton Oilers on Thursday defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 to book their place in the Stanley Cup Finals, setting up a repeat of last year’s NHL showpiece against reigning champions the Florida Panthers. The Oilers, bidding to become the first Canadian team to win the NHL’s championship series since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens, head to Florida for Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Wednesday. Florida, who are to play in the NHL showpiece for the third straight season, won last year’s title 4-3 to extend Canada’s decades-long Stanley Cup drought. Connor McDavid led Edmonton back to the championship series on