Naomi Osaka's win over Petra Kvitova in the women singles final of Australian Open on Saturday hitched the 21 year old Japanese young superstar name in the record book of women's tennis, as the going to be world number one women's player (when the list gets updated on Monday) becomes the first player since Jennifer Capriati to win the next Grand Slam after her maiden major title.
Speaking about Osaka's sensational performance in the night of final, former Indian number one singles players Somdev Devvarman was full of praise for the young achiever, who first grabs spotlight after mauling Serena Williams in one-sided US Open final in September 2018.
"The stakes were very high in the final. Not just the title that was on the line but also world number one that neither of the women had accomplished before."
"It was a very interesting game and I think the two girls played quite phenomenal in this match without a doubt winning plenty of great points."
"Osaka was brilliant in the tiebreak. And then she did really well especially in the third set to take a path from the break at the end of second and compose herself again, refocus and come back and win the match. It was an unbelievable effort from Naomi and a tough one for Kvitova," said Somdev who was one of the guest panelists for Sony Sports live studio show for Australian Open.
Speaking further about Naomi, the 33-year-old veteran, whose best performance in the season's first Grand Slam was way back in 2013 when he entered the second round said that she has proved that her US Open win wasn't a fluke and she is well deserved for the number one ranking.
"I think Osaka is one of the brighter futures for WTA circuit, US final was unfortunate (because of Serena’s verbal dispute with referee overshadowing her win) but at the end of the day she won it very gracefully and here (in Melbourne) she did it once again proving that the US Open win was not a fluke."
"She is now the world number one and I think she is well earned, well deserved."
"In Australia, she only lost three sets on the way to the title. She is playing really well and obviously has improved a lot; she has learned how to deal with pressure. It's not easy to deal with pressure and expectations coming into the tournament as a number four seed but she has done a great job."
"We have to congratulate her on her feet, I think winning two Slams final back to back and that too after your first major is something that has never done long back. She has joined a very privileged group of Chris Evert and other greats and a group that has a lot of success at the WTA tour. Pretty great future for her ahead and I think she will be a wonderful ambassador for women's tennis," he concluded.