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MELBOURNE. — Serena Williams yesterday broke down in tears and cut short her post-match press conference after another failed bid to equal Margaret Court’s record Grand Slam haul, calling her defeat to Naomi Osaka “a big error day”.
The veteran American’s quest to reach a ninth Australian Open tennis final and match Court’s 24 major singles titles ended in a 6-3, 6-4 semi-final mauling by the Japanese third seed.
Osaka will face Jennifer Brady in tomorrow’s final after the American beat Karolina Muchova.
Brady came past the Czech 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to seal a spot in her first Grand Slam final.
It will be a rematch of the 2020 US Open semi-final, which Osaka came through in three sets. Williams (39) broke early for a 2-0 lead before Osaka reeled off five straight games to leave her shell-shocked.
“The difference today was errors. I made so many errors,” said the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
“Honestly, it was opportunities where I could have won. I could have been up 5-0. It was a big error day for me.”
Pressed on what caused her to make so many mistakes, tears began to flow as she told reporters: “I don’t know. I’m done,” before walking out.
In a clash of power games clashed, it was Osaka who had the edge, hitting 20 winners to Williams’s 12, while also committing three fewer unforced errors on 21.
Williams said she had been hitting well all tournament and had no explanation for the loss other than “too many mistakes there, easy mistakes”.
Osaka’s victory left Williams still stranded on 23 Grand Slam crowns, one short of Court’s tally, with her last major title coming in Melbourne four years ago when she was pregnant.
Williams has lost four Slam finals since and as she walked off court put her hand over her heart, almost as if saying farewell.
Asked about it afterwards, she suggested the gesture was more about acknowledging the crowd, who were allowed back into Rod Laver Arena after a five-day snap lockdown and gave the American a rousing send-off.
“I don’t know. If I ever say farewell, I wouldn’t tell anyone,” she said.
Since winning while pregnant in Australia four years ago, Williams has lost four Slam finals, including one to Osaka in a controversial and heated 2018 US Open decider which left both women in tears.
“I hit a lot of unforced errors in the first few games, I was just really nervous and scared,” said Osaka, who reeled off five games in a row in the opening set after going 2-0 down.
“But then I sort of eased my way into it and the biggest thing for me was having fun.”
“For me, it’s always an honour to play her and I didn’t want to go out (of the tournament) really bad, so I just tried my best,” she added. — AFP.
Online Reporter