Australian Open 2021: Naomi Osaka dominates Jennifer Brady to take Australian Open women's title

Tom Naghten

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Australian Open 2021: Naomi Osaka dominates Jennifer Brady to take Australian Open women's title image

World number three Naomi Osaka has claimed her second Australian Open following a dominant 6-4 6-3 win over Jennifer Brady.

Osaka and Brady would trade service breaks in the first eight games as neither women could gain ascension.

However, the 23-year-old would take over, taking advantage of a sloppy Brady service game to take the first set 6-4.

From here, it was all Osaka, immediately breaking twice to take the first four games of the set.

Whilst Brady would lift and claim one of the breaks back, Osaka was unfazed, serving it out to claim her fourth grand slam title.


Brady was full of praise for Osaka's efforts both on and off the court after her win.

"She's such an inspiration to us all and what she's doing for the game is amazing and getting the sport out there," Brady said.

"I hope young girls at home are watching and are inspired by what she's doing."

Given the extensive effort that Australian Open organisers and the state had gone through to ensure a 50% capacity could attend the final, Osaka was grateful to be able to add to her growing tally of titles.

"I didn't play my last Grand Slam with fans, so just to have this energy, it really means a lot. Thank you so much for coming," she said.

"Thank you for opening your hearts and your arms towards us.  I feel like playing a Grand Slam right now is a super privilege and it's something I won't take for granted, so thank you for this opportunity."  

Follow our recount of the match below

 

Osaka v Brady live scores and blog

9:38 - Osaka joins illustrious company

Osaka's win has put her in a special group of players, having won her first four grand slam finals.

She joins Monica Seles and Roger Federer as the only three to do it in the Open-era.


It adds to her 12-0 record when she gets into the final eight of a grand slam.

9:24  - Never change Naomi

Naomi Osaka is one of the best characters on tour and her acceptance speech showed this.

From starting her speech by asking whether Brady preferred Jenny or Jennifer, Osaka was humble about her opponent, almost bragging in the nicest way possible about how she called her success.

Check out the full speech below, it's worth a listen.


 

9:03 - Game set match Osaka

Brady keeps the pressure on, making Osaka serve the match out.

As she has for the majority of the match, Osaka would give Brady little hope of a comeback, serving it out to win her fourth grand slam title

Osaka 6-4 6-3.

8:52 - Not done yet

Jennifer Brady refuses to quit, getting one of the breaks back in the fifth game.

Facing elimination, Brady would go for broke, finding a way to break Osaka's serve.

She would then hold her serve to keep herself in the match. 

Osaka would bounce back, holding her serve to put the pressure back on Brady.  Osaka 6-4 5-2.

8:45 - Dominance

Not many other words for it, this second set for Osaka has been dominant.

She would once again break Brady, taking a 4-0 lead into the set.  Osaka 6-4 4-0.


 

8:40 - Osaka cruises ahead

Naomi Osaka has continued her dominance into the second set.

Osaka's ruthless instincts were on full display as she broke early in the set.

She would consolidate to take the first three games of the set.  Osaka 6-4 3-0.  

8:28 - Osaka snatches first set

After a back and forth set, Naomi Osaka would take the opening set 6-4.

Despite the set looking like it would head to a tie-breaker, Osaka would take advantage of a lucky break to earn a set point. 

This allowed her to take the first set inside 45 minutes, putting her one set away from a fourth grand slam title.


 

8:23 - Osaka and Brady trade holds

Normality resumed after the two breaks, with Osaka and Brady trading service holds.

Whilst Osaka's was conventional, Brady was forced to save a breakpoint opportunity as both players struggled with their ball toss into the wind.

She would eventually hold, backed by a significant improvement in her first serve percentage. 

Osaka would then return the favour, saving a chance to keep the game on serve  5-4 Osaka.

8:10 - Brady fights back

Jennifer Brady refuses to back down, immediately taking the break back.

Despite Osaka's confidence, Brady took it to the world number three, forcing a backhand error to get the game back on serve. 

She would consolidate the break to even the match. 3-3

8:00 - Osaka draws first blood

Naomi Osaka would take the first break of the set, racing to a 3-1 lead.

Brady's struggles on serve continued, failing to find a first serve when she needed it as she lost all four points.  3*-1 Osaka


 

 

7:55 - Brady recovers from scare

Jennifer Brady showed signs of nerves in her opening service game,

Despite winning the first three points, Brady would struggle to close it out, allowing Osaka to apply pressure and get it to deuce.

Brady would eventually close it out to level the scores, with Osaka following and holding serve  2- 1* Osaka.

 

7:50 - Osaka off to perfect start

Naomi Osaka has shown no signs of nerves early on.

Osaka won the coin toss and raced through her first service game, giving Brady little.  1-0 Osaka.

7:45 - Half-crowd full of noise

Having suffered in lockdown, Melbourne has come out to play for the final, with perfect conditions awaiting the two.

Victoria Government laws dictate that Rod Laver Arena must be half-full for the men's and women's finals after a recent COVID outbreak.

Regardless, the crowd have been full of noise as they were introduced, with Osaka seemingly the slight crowd's favourite.

 

7:30 - The future is now

Naomi Osaka has received major praise ahead of the 2021 Australian Open final, with tennis legend Jim Courier expecting her to 'pull away from the pack' if she wins her fourth title tonight.

"Naomi is starting to pull away from the pack. If she could win her fourth of four finals it would establish her as the player to beat,” Courier said on Nine pre-match.

“She is a wonderful talent. She was challenged in the tournament but the semifinal against Serena (Williams) really stood out.”

How to watch/stream the match for free?

The Osaka-Brady match will be telecast live on free-to-air television via Nine 's main channel - with the broadcast set to begin at 7 pm (AEDT).

You can also watch the match live via stream on the 9Now  app - which is available on Smart TV's, Android devices, Apple devices, tablets and desktops.

Replays of the match will also be accessible through the 9Now  app after its completion.

What time is the Australian Open Women's final?

The women's singles final is set to start at 7:30 pm (AEDT time)

This will be followed by the mixed doubles final between Aussie pair Sam Stosur/Matthew Ebden and Barbora Krejcikova/Rajeev Ram

Osaka's Australian Open form

On paper, Osaka has been near-flawless throughout the tournament, dropping just one set in her road to the final.

Osaka opponent Round Score
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Russia) First 6-1 6-2
Caroline Garcia (France) Second 6-2 6-3 
Ons Jabeur [27] (Tunisia) Third 6-3 6-2
Garbine Muguruza [14] (Spain) Fourth 4-6 6-4 7-5
Hsieh Su-Wei (Chinese Taipei) Quarter-Final  6-2 6-2
Serena Willams [10] Semi-Final 6-3 6-4

The world number three cruised through the opening two rounds of the tournament, dropping just three and five games respectively 

This continued into the third round, defeating 27th seed Ons Jabeur in just under 80 minutes.

However, the 23-year-old found herself in trouble against 14th seed Garbine Muguruza, dropping the first set before finding herself having to save two match points.

She would eventually win the last three games of the match to book her place in the final eight, where she would end the fairytale of Hsieh Su-Wei. 

Osaka's best performance would come in the semi-final  dispatching legendary 10th seed Serena Williams  in straight sets to book her place in the final.

Naomi Osaka

Brady's Australia Open form

Brady has been dominant throughout the tournament, dropping just two sets on her way to the final.

Karatsev opponent Round Score

Aliona Bolsova (Spain)

 First 6-1 6-3
Madison Brengle (USA) Second 6-1 6-2
Kaja Juvan (Slovenia) Third 6-1 6-3
Donna Vekic [28] (Croatia) Fourth 6-1 7-5
Jessica Pegula (USA) Quarter-Final 4-6 6-2 6-1
Karolina Muchova [25] (Czech Republic) Semi-Final 6-4 3-6 6-4

Brady started the main draw with two comfortable straight-set victories against Spain's Bolsova and fellow American Madison Brengle.

She would breeze past qualifier Kaja Juvan in the third-round before demolishing 28th seed Donna Vekic in just over 90 minutes.

In an all-American quarter-final, Brady would recover from a slow start to defeat Jessica Pegula in three sets.

She would then take advantage of top seed Ash Barty's shock loss in the quarter-finals , defeating 25th seed Karolina Muchova in three sets.

Jennifer Brady

Osaka-Brady head-to-head

On the WTA Tour so far, Osaka marginally leads Brady 2-1.

Their history together begins at a 50k challenger event in the small town of New Braunfels, Texas. Brady, who was the sixth seed, defeated Osaka in straight sets 6-4 6-4.

Since then, it has been all Osaka, who defeated Brady in 2018 at Charleston, reversing the scoreline from their first encounter. 

She won their previous encounter in a three-set thriller at the US Open, with the Japanese world number three eventually winning in three sets.

Osaka is 180cm tall, giving her a 2cm height advantage over Brady (178 cm)

Both players are right-handed and have two-handed backhands.

Osaka has a career prizemoney tally of US$17,770,234, while Karatsev has won $3,329,416 during her career.

Osaka-Brady betting

The world no.3 is an extraordinary short-priced favourite at 1.19 to win the final, while Brady is the rank outsider at 4.50

You can get Osaka to win in straight sets at 1.60, while the 23-year-old is 1.30 to win the first set.

Odds courtesy of Sportsbet.

Osaka-Brady live scores

Tom Naghten

Tom Naghten Photo

Tom Naghten is a senior editor at The Sporting News Australia where he's been part of the team since 2017. He predominantly covers boxing and MMA. In his spare time, he likes to watch Robbie Ahmat's goal against the Kangaroos at the SCG in 2000.