Naomi Osaka, 3rd player in the world, won the Australian Open on Saturday, February 20, logically beating American Jennifer Brady (24th) in straight sets (6-4, 6-3) in the final.
The Japanese thus won at 23 a fourth Grand Slam title in as many finals contested.
The former world No. 1, who won the US Open in 2018 and 2020 as well as the Australian Open in 2019, will regain second place on Monday, while the American, who was playing her first final major, will climb to 13th place, his best ranking.
After a small slump in the second part of the first round, Naomi Osaka smothered the resistance of Jennifer Brady.
Without playing her best tennis, the Japanese was on top.
While their previous meeting, in the semifinals of the last US Open, had resulted in a very close match, won by the Japanese 7-6, 3-6, 6-3, Saturday's final was one-sided.
Having taken control from the start, with a break that allowed her to break away 3-1, Osaka then dropped a bit and left the gripping Brady to come back to 3-3 and engage in a standoff.
The American even had one break point to lead 5-4, but failed to conclude.
And it was she who gave up the round on two big unforced errors.
Osaka then took the game for good, breaking away 4-0.
Brady did not give up and managed to redo one of his two late breaks, but nothing to destabilize Osaka who has never been worried.
With AFP
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