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2021 Australian Open
Women’s Singles Final
Jennifer Brady v Naomi Osaka
20 February 2021
Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia
Japanese star Naomi Osaka will start as the favourite to claim the 2021 Women’s Singles title when she faces American Jennifer Brady in the championship match at the
Australian Open on Saturday 20 February at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne Park.
The 23-year-old Osaka is already a three-time Grand Slam champion and former winner of the Australian Open (2019), while she further underlined her status as one of the best women’s singles players in the world by downing the legendary Serena Williams in straight sets in the semifinals.
“For me, I think the biggest thing is just having fun and it’s the first day having the crowd in a while ... it’s always an honour to play her [Williams]. I just didn’t want to go out like really bad, so I just wanted to try my best,” said Osaka, who earlier in the tournament defeated Hsieh Su-wei, Garbine Muguruza, Ons Jabeur, Caroline Garcia and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
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She added: “I don’t know if there’s any little kids out here today, but I was a little kid watching her play and just to be on the court playing against her for me is a dream. I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned over the years is just like, you know, you’re competitive, you’re playing against another competitor. That itself is the funnest part because tennis is a game.”
Osaka’s opponent, 25-year-old Brady, earned a spot in her first Grand Slam final when she defeated Karolina Muchova 6-4 3-6 6-4, following on from triumphs over Jessica Pegula, Donna Vekic, Kaja Juvan, Madison Brengle and Aliona Bolsova earlier in the tournament.
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In head-to-head terms, Brady and Osaka have met in three previous matches, with the Japanese player taking two victories. That includes a 7-6 3-6 6-3 win in their most recent meeting in the semifinals of the 2020 US Open.
“We had a tough match in the US Open, where she said it was one of her top two matches,” added. Brady. “I’ll be nervous but I’m going to be super-excited.”
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