Australian Open: Naomi Osaka beats Petra Kvitova in final to become Asia’s first world No 1

South China Morning Post ^ | 01/26/2019 | Nicolas Atkin

[SeekAndFind]

Tears fell down Naomi Osaka’s cheeks as she left the court for a comfort break to gear herself up for a third set she had not expected was coming in Saturday’s Australian Open final.

None of us saw that outcome when Osaka held three championship points at 5-3 in the second set. But she was playing Petra Kvitova, the two-time Wimbledon champion who had battled back to the top of the game from a career-threatening injury when a knife-wielding intruder stabbed her playing hand at her home two years ago. Fighting is in Kvitova’s DNA and the Czech fired herself up.

Osaka’s body language had dropped off a cliff and she chided herself for every error – she was staring at a meltdown for the ages.

But the 21-year-old showed she can fight too, and steeled herself for a 7-6 (7-2), 5-7, 6-4 victory at Rod Laver Arena, and there were tears of joy instead of frustration as she sunk to her knees.

What should have been over in 92 minutes went two hours and 27 minutes, but she got there in the end.

If there were any lingering doubts Osaka was not a genuine superstar, that she had somehow fluked her way to a maiden grand slam title in the US Open New York last summer, she made a mockery of them here by showing the mental fortitude of a champion when she could have gone completely off the boil.

“Hello, public speaking isn’t really my strong side, so let’s just see if I can get through this,” said Osaka at the trophy presentation.

“I wrote notes before this but I still forgot the rest of what I was gonna say, so thank you everyone, I’m really honoured to play in this final.”

[kabar]

What opportunity did Japan give her? She was trained in the US. She has a US passport. I wonder how well she speaks and writes Japanese. Osaka is a dual national. But she has lived 18 of her 21 years in the US.

I grew up in an immigrant neighborhood over 70 years ago. At that time immigrants wanted to be an American. Our schools taught the virtues of America and how fortunate we were to be here. Now a kid raised on Long Island and in FL identifies as Japanese. No doubt she will continue to live in the US and be fortunate to enjoy all the benefits that this country has to offer. Something is very wrong with this country when dual nationals elect to identify as other than American.

Osaka is not an exception. I can cite many other American athletes who have elected to compete under a different flag. I am not singling her out. I blame it on our educational system and the demonization of patriotism. The Dems use identity politics and the glorification of multiculturalism as weapons to divide us. They defend the rights of non-citizens more than they do their own people. Citizenship has become devalued.

[CaliforniaCraftBeer]