Two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka won the Toray Pacific Open on Sunday. The 21-year-old started the year by winning the Australian Open. The Japanese born player was ranked number one at the time and seemed set to have a good year. Naomi, however, had some poor performances with early tournament exits at the French Open and Wimbledon after partying ways with Sascha Bajin. Later, she also fired her new coach Jermaine Jenkins in a bid to improve her form. The former world number one could be on the right track after winning the Toray Pacific Open this weekend.
Comfortable win
The event was held in Osaka, Japan. Naomi defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-3 to claim the title for the first time. She reached the previous two finals in 2016 and 2018 but lost both times. The relocation of the event to her home city of Osaka from Tokyo seemed to give her the motivation to win the event. The two-time Grand Slam champion expressed the need of having a good tournament after disappointing performances in Europe. Osaka hoped playing in her home country would help her get over the bad performances. She was clearly focused and determined to win the tournament, reaching the final without dropping a set. In the final, Naomi was comfortable against Pavlyuchenkova who is currently ranked number 41. The two had previously met at the Hong Kong Open in 2017 where the Russian defeated the Japanese player in straight sets to win the title.
Wanted to win really badly. OSAKA
After winning the title on her third attempt, Naomi expressed her relief for finally winning. She said, “I just wanted to win this really bad.” As the tennis season nears its conclusion, the Japanese player is happy to win the tournament and gain some confidence. The 21-year-old revealed that she had been really focused on the tournament and would use the lessons learned from it to be better moving forward. “I think what I learned from this tournament is just to focus every point, and just to have really positive energy.”
Playing in her birth city of Osaka gave the world number four extra motivation. The 21-year-old loves playing in her country is already looking forward to next year’s tournament. “This is the city where I was born and that gave me a lot of power to play match after match. I love playing here and see you all next year.”
Naomi Osaka’s ranking and performance in 2019
Ranked no.4, the Japanese played her last match on the 22nd of September when she beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-3 in the final in Osaka to win her 3rd career title.
This year the Japanese has a 33-11 win-loss record. Osaka has won 2 titles in 2019 at the Australian Open and in Osaka.
Naomi Osaka |
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