Another Grand Slam For Naomi
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Andrew Rosario
When the William sisters began their tennis career, trained and guided by their father Richard, the sport had very little successful players of color they could look up to. The great Arthur Ashe became the first African American to win a Grand Slam. He had long been retired and ultimately lost his life to the Aids disease as a result of a blood transfusion before the Serena and Venus took up tennis. Long before Ashe, Althea Gibson was the first woman of color to win Wimbledon in 1956. Both Williams were aware of the history of Ashe and Gibson. They set their own path becoming two of the best women players in the history of tennis. As a little girl, Naomi Osaka idolized Serena Williams. Little did she know, her father Leonard Francois from Jamaica, would take a page out of the Richard Williams book and molding Naomi into the world class champion she has become.
2018 introduced Naomi to the sports world but not in the way she wanted. Facing Serena Williams who was vying to win her 24th Grand Slam, Osaka took out Serena in a dominating two sets 6-2, 6-4. The match was marred by Williams being penalized by the chair umpire causing the fans to turn on Osaka booing when she was introduced as the U.S. Open Champion bringing her to tears. To her credit, Williams embraced Osaka imploring the crowd to “let’s not boo anymore.”
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
Since then, Naomi Osaka proved she would not be a one-hit wonder. She won the Australian Open in 2019 and the U.S. Open in 2020 despite the tournament taking place during the Coronavirus/Covid19 pandemic with no fans in attendance. To prove that her win against Serena was no fluke, Osaka faced Serena in the semi-final round in last week’s Australia Open. After a very shaky first 3 games of the first set, Naomi righted herself winning the first set 6-3. She followed it up winning the second set 6-4 once again denying Williams a chance at making history in her quest to win her 24th Grand Slam title. Naomi’s job was not complete.
Facing American Jennifer Brady, it only took 77 minutes for Naomi to add another Grand Slam title to her resume in the 6-4, 6-3 Australian Open victory. The tournament was played with fans in attendance unlike the last Grand Slam Osaka played in. “I didn’t play my last Grand Slam with fans so just to have this energy it means a lot,” Osaka said. “Thank you so much for coming. I feel like playing a Grand Slam is a super privilege right now and it’s something I won’t take for granted. Thank you for this opportunity.”
It had been a very long time between Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe who put African American tennis players on the world stage. Richrd Williams took the mantle and saw Serena and Venus dominate the sport for years. The torch has been passed as Leonard Francois molded his daughter Naomi in the shape of the William sisters.
The result has been Grand Slam victories with many more to come.
