World No. 3 Naomi Osaka is into her second straight Grand Slam final after a 6-3, 6-4 win over her hero, Serena Williams.
“Just to be on the court playing against her [Williams] is a dream,” Osaka said during her on-court interview.
After dropping the first two games, Osaka rallied from within to claim five games in a row; “I think I just hit a lot of unforced errors in the first few games, I was really nervous and scared,” Osaka told Jim Courier.
After a close second set at 4-4, Osaka finished the match strong, winning the last eight points of the match to claim victory in one hour and 15 minutes.
Despite only serving a mere 43% on her first serve, Osaka was able to capitalise on Williams’ unforced errors. The 2019 Australian Open champion was also able to win an impressive 4/4 break points.
With the loss, Williams’ Sisyphean purist for the elusive 24th Grand Slam becomes even more difficult. The American stayed on court for a significant amount of time after the game and gave the crowd a big wave, leaving fans to ponder if Williams will compete at Melbourne Park again.
Osaka will now face either Jennifer Brady or Karolina Muchova in the final. In either case, Osaka’s opponent will be a first-time finalist.
“I feel like everyone is really excited when they play their first final but they’re also really nervous, I don’t want to wish nerves on anyone but hopefully one of them gets nervous,” Osaka laughed as she finished her interview with Courier.
The 23-year-old is 3-0 in Grand Slam finals and will definitely go into the final as a heavy favourite.