Naomi Osaka Becomes First Japanese Player to Win Grand Slam

Sep. 9, 2018

In the former article I wrote about the tennis player, Naomi Osaka who reached the Grand Slam final. It is surprising that she became the first Japanese player to win the Grand Slam. In the final, She played her idol, Serena Williams at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. She said that she really wanted to play Serena.
Actually, this game was very hard for them. Serena received a code violation for coaching. Also, she smashed her racket and was given a game penalty. She got furious and called the umpire a “thief,” too. However, when Naomi won 6-2, 6-4 and became the champion, Serena congratulated her at the net. After that, Naomi said “I’m sorry it ended like this.”

Naomi was crying at the presentation ceremony, and Serena put her arm around Naomi. There were still boos because people were angry with the judge, but Serena asked the crowd to stop it. Then, people cheered for the new star. Now in Japan, both Naomi and Serena are thought to be role models and they are praised so much.

Naomi is a 20-year-old Japanese player, and Serena is a 36-year-old American player. They are very different, but both are really good tennis players. I hope they will play together again, in a good mood.

By Meg Konishi (Find Your Japan)