US Open: Naomi Osaka beats Serena Williams for first slam title

Naomi Osaka is a most deserving US Open champion.

Naomi Osaka poses with the US Open trophy after beating Serena Williams. Picture: AFP

With an impeccable display of composure and near flawless tennis in a historic yet turbulent final, Naomi Osaka is a most deserving US Open champion.

The 20-year-old became the youngest woman to claim the title at Flushing Meadows since Maria Sharapova in 2006. Osaka beat Serena Williams 6-2 6-4, outclassing the legend from the baseline and in behaviour in a controversial decider marred by conflict.

Osaka arrived in New York with the tag of being a future contender but was also short on confidence after a lean lead-in.

Not only does she leave the Big Apple having created history as the first Japanese player to win a grand slam title, but also with her reputation greatly enhanced. Not least for the way she put Williams on the back foot and ultimately out of control yesterday, but also for the phenomenal manner with which she played in her first ­venture to the quarter-finals or ­beyond at a grand slam.

There is no asterisk next to the winner of this major.

Umpire Carlos Ramos, one of the most experienced umpires in tennis, who has the distinction of having handled grand slam finals in men’s tennis at all four majors, finished his first women’s decider unfortunately in the spotlight but with his reputation as a stickler who officiates to the rules very much intact.

Williams is indisputably the best player in the modern era of tennis with 23 grand slam titles to her name.

US Open final: the osaka file

With her sister Venus, she has created a legacy in the United States that has a generation of brilliant young women, including last year’s champion Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys, who Osaka ousted in a semi-final, as legitimate stars of the women’s circuit.

The 36-year-old’s effort to reach two grand slam finals in succession is remarkable, even without the added difficulty of regaining world-beating form and fitness after giving birth to a daughter less than 12 months ago.

But an asterisk can be applied to her reputation for sportsmanship. Williams has previously threatened lines officials and umpires and been sanctioned as a result for past incidents on a stadium court named after the most gentle of players in Arthur Ashe, a legacy-leaver like herself.

And a couple of high-profile outbursts have occurred in big-stakes matches against two of the fairest women to play over the past decade in Sam Stosur and Kim Clijsters, who took the fight to Williams in a measured yet ­mature way, just as Osaka did.

The events that led to another temper tantrum have prompted much discussion but it is indisputable Ramos umpired to the rules.

And to suggest he would not do the same when umpiring men is inaccurate and an undeserved slur.

Recent examples of his stern hand include a code violation he issued at Wimbledon to eventual champion Novak Djokovic for throwing his racquet in a quarter-final against Kei Nishikori.

Ramos also issued warnings against Djokovic and Italian Marco Cecchinato for coaching during the quarter-final of this year’s French Open.

And while it is correct that coaching from the sidelines does occur and can be overlooked, warnings have also been issued on a regular basis throughout a US Open where temperatures have soared and legends have melted, physically in the case of Roger Federer and mentally in regards to Williams.

Her coach Patrick Mouratoglou was tutoring from the stands. He admitted his guilt afterwards while throwing peers and players under the bus in a misguided ­attempt at mitigation.

Williams did smash a racquet after her remarkable serve deserted her while she was leading 3-1 in the second set, just as it had throughout the first set when she was under pressure.

And by calling the umpire a liar and a thief, she clearly breached the following rule; verbal abuse is designed as a statement about an official, opponent, sponsor, spectator or other person that implies dishonesty or is derogatory, insulting or otherwise abusive.

Code violation. Warning. Code violation. Point penalty. Code Violation. Game penalty.

And while it was not quite game, set and match when Osaka was able to hold her composure and concentration, despite the blatantly unfair circumstances she was innocently thrust into, and when she thundered a flat, unreturnable serve to the backhand wing, the title was rightfully hers. And that should be celebrated.

Osaka, whose mother is Japanese and father Haitian, was born in Osaka but spent much of her childhood on Long Island, where she can remember watching US Open matches from the bleachers, before moving to the tennis star-producing factory of Florida.

Williams has been her idol for many years. In third grade, the new champion even did a school project on her hero.

And she openly admitted going out of her way on occasion to avoid the American around locker rooms early on in her career, so overawed did she feel.

But on the court she has been nothing but fearless and resilient against the superstar.

She thrashed her in Miami earlier this year, although Williams was in the infancy of her comeback.

And she was in control of the final in New York having regathered her concentration after the briefest of lapses when serving at 1-2 in the second set when the game penalty was issued.

The way the new world No 7 closed out the match at 5-3, amid the furore, suggests Osaka would have handled the occasion regardless of the penalty issued against Williams.

Osaka was the victim of an infamous meltdown — though not in regards to her behaviour — against Keys at the US Open two years ago when she let slip a 5-1 lead in the deciding set.

But it was also a clear pointer to an emerging, special talent.

Earlier this year in Melbourne, she proved too good for Ash Barty in a third-round encounter. She then went on to win Indian Wells, considered the biggest tournament outside the majors.

In claiming the US Open, she crucified the 33rd ranked Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-0 6-0 in the third round, outlasted another emerging star in Aryna Sabalenka in her next match and then proved too tough for Keys in a semi-final, serving tremendously time and again when under pressure.

It is the form line of a deserving champion, a star arrived and a force for the future.

Yet just a fortnight ago she had her doubts, writing of a “really rough” period she went through when struggling with the pressure of no longer being an underdog.The key, she said, was deciding that no matter what eventuated throughout the US Open, she would play tennis for the fun of it. And she did. And despite the anger and fury that unfolded, in the end, fun won.