Some sports stories real and
fictional involve an athlete getting into a sport due to seeing a star of that
game playing, and eventually they get to meet that sporting idol for a match in
a major competition and then beat them. That just happened in the 2021
Australian Open. American tennis superstar Serena Williams was working on
winning her 24th major singles title at Melbourne, matching the
record of pre-Open era Aussie legend Margaret Court. Instead she ran into a major
semifinals roadblock this past Thursday, in Japan representative Naomi Osaka.
Sweeping two sets, Osaka stopped Williams’ milestone achievement.
According to CNN, Naomi Osaka defeated
Serena Williams 6-3, 6-4 at the Women’s Singles semifinals for the Australian
Open. The feat was witnessed by a sizeable crowd that has finally been able to
view the match live at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne after a mini-COVID outbreak
in the city caused Melbourne officials to lock down for five days. It was a
storybook encounter, as Osaka had seen the Williams play as a very young child
in 1999. At age 23 presently the Japanese-Haitian player felt like she was in a
dream facing her idol, especially after she beat her.
In the post-match conference
Osaka says, "I don't know if there's any little kids out here today, but I
was a little kid watching her play…Just to be on the court playing against her
for me is a dream." In a way her life was a mirror to Williams. She and
her sister Mari started learning tennis at a very young age, with their Haitian
father being their first coach, just as Serena and older sister Venus started
at the sport thanks to their own dad. The result was an intense generational
match that ended heartwarmingly when the defeated Williams embraced Osaka on
the court.
During the conference there was
speculation that Serena Williams may be considering a farewell to pro tennis
due to her gesture towards Naomi Osaka. It should be noted that Serena last won
a major in 2017, also at the Australian Open, a feat achieved while eight weeks
pregnant. Naomi on the other hand was Australian Open women’s singles champion
in 2019, and in the four matches she had faced Williams she prevailed 3-1.
Serena demurred on the possibility that she is retiring, explaining she would
never tell anyone farewell if she was actually planning to.
Osaka now rules undefeated in her
last 20 consecutive professional matches, with her last loss being in February 2020.
She faces American Jennifer Brady in the upcoming Women’s Singles finals.
Image from Sports Illustrated
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