Naomi Osaka has won her second straight Grand Slam tournament by beating Petra Kvitova in the most dramatic of Australian Open finals.
In a big-hitting, high-quality affair on Saturday night, Osaka missed three consecutive match points in the second set and looked on the brink of unravelling before re-focusing to win 7-6(2) 5-7 6-4.
After the bittersweet experience of winning last year’s US Open title amid controversial circumstances, this time Osaka experienced a truly joyous moment.
An unreturnable first serve saw the crowd erupt, and Osaka sank into a crouch at the baseline, overwhelmed.
The Japanese becomes the first player to win two consecutive Grand Slam trophies since Serena Williams in 2015, and the first player to back up her maiden major title at the very next Slam since Jennifer Capriati won the Australian and French Opens back in 2001.
And with the win comes another milestone – Osaka will become the game’s newest world No.1.
At this time last year, she was ranked No.72.
She broke Kvitova in the third game of the final set and converted her fifth matchpoint to end a superb final in two hours and 27 minutes.
The 21-year-old Osaka became the youngest women’s world number one since Dane Caroline Wozniacki, who was 20 when she topped the rankings in 2010.
The fourth seed, one of the cleanest strikers of the ball in women’s tennis, also became the first player since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 to win the next Grand Slam after her maiden major title.
Osaka took the first set on a tiebreak after both players had exhibited their entire array of shots in a high-quality opening to the match.
Kvitova’s serve, which looked impregnable during the early games of the opening set, suffered a dip as Osaka took up unconventional receiving positions, forcing the Czech to make adjustments.
Osaka had won 59 straight matches after taking the first set before Saturday’s final and showed why as her serves grew bigger and the winners flowed from her racket in the second.
Kvitova broke early in the second set to go up 2-0 but a doublefault from the Czech gave Osaka a second breakpoint opportunity, which she converted to get back on serve.
The Czech’s confidence appeared shaken and she was broken to love before another Osaka hold gave the Japanese her fourth straight game in the second set.
But the 28-year-old Czech, who had lost just seven out of 33 career finals before Saturday, fought back with booming serves to save three matchpoints and hold for 4-5, before breaking Osaka to draw level.
A teary-eyed Osaka could not stop Kvitova’s fightback as the Czech won four straight games to win the set and level the match at 1-1, after the Japanese served her fourth double fault.
A break in the third game of the decider, however, proved enough for Osaka, who fell to her knees as Kvitova’s forehand went wide to hand her the title.
