A new star is born!
20-year-old Naomi Osaka impresses in Indian Wells after winning the title following the demolition of to players such as Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska, Karolina Pliskova, and Simona Halep.
The Japanese had no problems in also defeating Darya Kasatkina 6-3 6-2 in a final that was just one-way traffic. The only awkward moment for Naomi was when she lost the serve in the very first game (0-1), but the Japanese broke back soon after (1-1) before winning the opener. There was no story in the second set after Osaka grabbed a fast 5-1 to clinch the match after just 70 minutes.
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My plan was to fake calm. OSAKA
Soon after the match, Naomi commented
“I was extremely stressed and extremely nervous, but my plan was to fake that I’m very calm. I just knew that she was going to fight for every point, too, so I couldn’t afford to lose points based on nerves, and I had to keep making the right decisions.
“It was hard for me to get my nerves in check in the first game, especially since I don’t know why I decided to serve first.
We were playing some long points, and I wasn’t really trying to hit hard today because I felt like it would be better for her to take my pace.
I wanted her to do whatever she wanted to do, and I was just going to sit back and see what she does. I feel like I wasn’t that aggressive today. I was just more consistent.”
This is Osaka’s 1st career title, and she will soar to world no.22 after this run. More to come.
| UPCOMING NO.1? |
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