Japanese fourth-seed and world number nine, Naomi Osaka defeated world number 27 Belarusian Victoria Azarenka in US Open women’s singles final to clinch her second title in three years at Flushing Meadows on Saturday (September 12).
The 22-year-old staged a storming comeback victory with a scoreline of 1-6, 6-3, 6-3. Osaka was overwhelmed in the first set and was trailing 0-3 in the second but the Japanese recovered to win 10 of the next 11 games and seize the momentum. She won 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Osaka clinched her third Grand Slam title, second US Open title in three and earned prize money of $3 million (₹22 crores).
A social activist with distinctly capitalist orientation, Osaka now bags $3 million to her beneficial portfolio of corporate endorsements that come from being Asia’s one and only three-time major winner.
“I feel like the point is to start people talking,” she said of her campaigning of recent weeks.
Osaka said that she wants to be remembered for more than just tennis but for racial justice works. In every round of the tournament, she wore different masks paying honour to the Americans who have died for systemic racism and police brutality in the United States.
