Ebun Olowu
Naomi Osaka has won her third grand slam crown in an incredible comeback effort, beating former world number one, Victoria Azarenka, in the final of the US Open.
After losing the first set 6-1, world number nine, Osaka, fought back to claim the second set 6-3 before holding off a late Azarenka challenge to win the third 6-3.
Osaka, 22, adds a second US Open title to her 2018 US Open crown and 2019 Australian Open victory, having never lost in the final of a major tournament – the first person in two decades to go 3-0 in grand slam finals.
The match was also the first time in 25 years that a US Open women’s finalist overturned a first-set loss, and will see Osaka leap six places to number three in the world.
Osaka also used her run to the US Open finals to draw attention to police brutality and racism by donning face masks with the names of Black people killed in violent interactions with either police or others allegedly motivated by racism—and in her finals match Saturday, she unveiled the seventh and last mask name: Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy killed by police in Cleveland in 2014.
Asked about her masks with the names of Black men and women killed by police: “Seven masks. Seven names. What was the message you wanted to send, Naomi?”
“What was the message that you got was more the question. I feel like the point is to make people start talking,” she replied.
Asked about her masks with the names of Black men and women killed by police:
"Seven masks. Seven names. What was the message you wanted to send, Naomi?"
Osaka: "What was the message that you got was more the question. I feel like the point is to make people start talking." pic.twitter.com/2XwG4zq36r
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 12, 2020
