New York (AFP)

The rage to win took precedence over the joy of playing: driven by her commitment to Black Lives Matter, Naomi Osaka won her 3rd Grand Slam title at the US Open, at the expense of Victoria Azarenka 1-6, 6 -3, 6-3.

At 22, Osaka, already a winner at Flushing Meadows in 2018 and at the Australian Open in 2019, will find third place on Monday in the WTA rankings.

“Frankly, I don't want to play more finals against you, it was too hard,” Osaka said of his opponent upon receiving his trophy.

The two players should have met in the Cincinnati final, just before the start of the US Open, but Osaka withdrew with a left thigh injury.

Saturday, led 6-1, 2-0 without having existed, the former world No. 1 suddenly found his game and in particular his service.

And little by little, it was she who got hold of the match.

"I thought it would be quite embarrassing to lose in less than an hour, so I had to really fight and stop having this bad behavior," she analyzed.

The game then became one-sided, but in Osaka's favor this time, up to 4-2 for the Japanese in the last set.

At that moment, Azarenka had a start by resuming the face-off of his opponent to return to 4-3.

But Osaka immediately regained the advantage and concluded in stride.

- Osaka opens -

She thus ends a tournament during which she has shown great maturity and revealed part of her character, until then often hidden behind a wall of shyness.

It was during the Cincinnati tournament, played in the bubble of Flushing Meadows, that Naomi Osaka opened up as an activist, and no longer just as a tennis player.

She had decided not to play her semi-final to protest the police fire on African-American Jacob Blake, prompting the organizers' decision to cancel an entire day of the tournament and postpone the end of the tournament by 24 hours. the competition.

Osaka then agreed to play.

Until his thigh prevented him from defending his chances in the final.

At the US Open, she had prepared seven black masks - one per match until the final - each bearing the name of a victim of police violence.

"The goal was to get people talking about these problems. I was in the bubble, so I didn't really know what was going on outside. All I saw was what was being said on the networks. social and I retweeted to talk, ”she commented on Saturday after her victory.

- "Nice" -

For her part, Azarenka, who had beaten Serena Williams in the semi-finals, was disappointed with her defeat, but happy with her return to such a high level.

It will regain the 14th place in the world on Monday.

"Never two without three, as they say. I will have to try again ...", commented the Belarusian, also ex-world No. 1, in reference to her two finals lost at the US Open in 2012 and 2013 It therefore remains with two major titles on the clock: the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013.

At 31, however, she returns to the highest level after giving birth in 2016 and postponed her return until mid-season 2018 due to a legal battle for custody of her son.

With Cincinnati, she has chained 11 victories in three weeks while she had none since the beginning of the year.

And she displayed a great joie de vivre in Flushing Meadows, despite the sanitary conditions, and in particular the closed door, which plunged the tournament into a very strange atmosphere.

"We're going to have more fun in the coming weeks. It's been a long road to get there, but it was fun," Azarenka promised his French coach Dorian Descloix.

© 2020 AFP