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Melbourne (AP) - The Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka has been crowned Australian Open winner for the second time.
With a clear 6: 4, 6: 3 in the final against the American outsider Jennifer Brady, the 23-year-old repeated her masterpiece of 2019 in Melbourne. After a nervous start, Osaka gave the final debutante no chance in the second set and made hers overall fourth Grand Slam title perfect.
In the world rankings, Osaka will move up from third to second place on Monday.
Brady missed her first Grand Slam title in their first grand final on the day before the men's final between the Serbian record winner Novak Djokovic and challenger Daniil Medvedev from Russia.
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In the partially filled Rod Laver Arena, the outsider quickly fell behind.
But the favorite also looked very tense in the first set.
Osaka started with two aces in the first game and with a quick break, but on this windy day in the Australian metropolis initially scattered numerous unforced errors.
Osaka initially did not use a 3-1 lead.
After the 4: 4, however, thanks to Brady's mistakes, the game clearly developed in favor of the former world number one.
In tennis, women are always a bit in the shadow of men.
Because the men's top stars with Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer shape such an impressive era and the women lack dominant players, the winners change again and again and some disappear into oblivion.
But Osaka stands out, is a future figure in women's tennis and has star potential, also because she also has a clear opinion on socio-political issues.
Two days after her semi-final victory over her idol Serena Williams, the 23-year-old did not come close to her best form for a long time.
But she improved significantly in the second set, reduced her error rate and quickly led 4-0.
Three game wins of the world number 24.
she allowed her before she was chosen as the successor to last year's American winner Sofia Kenin.
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For Osaka it is the fourth title in one of the four most important tournaments: She triumphed at the US Open in 2018 and 2020 and the Australian Open two years ago.
She can look forward to prize money of 2.75 million Australian dollars (around 1.8 million euros) and also confirmed her form: She last lost before the season was interrupted last year due to the coronavirus pandemic in February 2020 Fed Cup.
Brady's entry into the final is already highly credited.
Before the tournament, like other professionals, including first-round loser Angelique Kerber, she was affected by the strict quarantine.
The American was stuck in her hotel room for two weeks and still achieved the greatest success of her career.
Her German trainer Michael Geserer, Julia Görges' former coach, also helped her.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210220-99-519924 / 3
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Osaka and Brady in direct comparison