After a close first set in the Australian Open final, Naomi Osaka cruised to her second Aussie Open title and her fourth overall Grand Slam victory, beating Jennifer Brady, 6-4, 6-3, on Saturday.
Ranked No. 3 in the world, Osaka is now 4-0 in major finals and became the first woman to win her first four Grand Slam finals since Monica Seles 30 years ago, the Associated Press noted.
At just 23 years old, it sure seems like Osaka is the future of tennis. And while she’s still early in her career, it’s impossible not to imagine where she could end up in the history books and what records she could set.
The same goes for how she could continue to impact the sport.
Following Osaka’s win over world No. 24 Brady, she was asked during her post-match press conference about the biggest thing she hopes to achieve on or off the court that she hasn’t done yet. Her answer was something she’s also familiar with herself.
Osaka said:
“I feel like the biggest thing I want to achieve is — this is gonna sound really odd — hopefully I play long enough to play a girl that said that I was once her favorite player or something.
“For me, I think that’s the coolest thing that could ever happen to me. I think I have those feelings of watching my favorite players. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to play Li Na, but yeah, I just think that that’s how the sport moves forward.”
While Osaka is disappointed she never got to play against Li — the two-time Grand Slam champ, including at the Australian Open, who retired in 2014 — she’s played several matches against her “idol,” Serena Williams. Most recently, Osaka topped Williams in the Aussie Open semifinals Wednesday and had to beat her in the 2018 U.S. Open final on her way to her first Grand Slam title.
Prior to that 2018 final, Osaka said she should view Williams as just another opponent and not her idol. But when she was asked if she had a message for Serena going into the match, Osaka laughed while saying: “I love you.”
Between how young Osaka is now as one of the best players in the world and how long some players’ careers are lasting, tennis fans surely hope Osaka will someday get the chance to face an opponent who once idolized her.
