Watch the moment Naomi Osaka became the first Asian tennis player to become No. 1

(Image credit: Screenshot/Australian Open on Twitter)

last updated 28 January 2019

Naomi Osaka isn't just the woman who beat Serena Williams anymore.

The Japanese player beat the Czech Republic's Petra Kvitova in the Australian Open's women's singles final on Saturday. The win secured her second consecutive Grand Slam title and launched her to a No. 1 ranking.

Osaka and Kvitova went head to head the entire match, with Osaka narrowly prevailing 7-6, 5-7, 6-4. With that win, Osaka became the first player in 18 years to produce two Grand Slam wins in a row; her last was the startling U.S. Open upset of Serena Williams last September. Osaka also became the first Japanese player to win any Grand Slam last year, and the first Asian player to secure a top tennis ranking, per The Straits Times.

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Before Saturday, Osaka had largely been known as the young player who bested Williams last year in a very contentious match. Williams had called the match's umpire a "thief" after a controversial call, and he returned her insult with a penalty of one game. That led Osaka to say she felt like she "had to apologize" for beating Williams in the end. But now, as ESPN put it, Osaka got "the moment she deserved." Watch below.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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