Naomi Osaka of Japan on Saturday defeated Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in the women's singles final of 2019 Australian Open and win back-to-back Grand Slam titles. The win also helped the 21-year-old become the new world number one.
Osaka, the reigning US Open champion, wasted three championship points in the second set and another one in the third but kept her calm to beat her 28-year-old opponent 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-4 in two hours and thirty minutes.
The fourth seed won the first set in tie-breaker in 53 minutes to set the tone, but at 5-4, she failed to convert three match points, then lost her own serve at 5-6 which forced the decider.
Advertisement
In the third set, a service break in the third game was enough for the Japanese to win the match and her second Major crown.
Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, managed to save another match point on Osaka's serve in the tenth game when the Japanese was leading at 40:0. And that's all from her.
The result means that Osaka now replaces Simona Halep as the new top-ranked player, thus ending the Romanian's 48-week stint.
She also becomes the first Asian player to top the WTA singles charts.
