Osaka already showed her hand. Back in March, she played Serena for the first time, showed no sense of nerves and rolled her 6-3, 6-2 in the first round in Miami. Now, that match doesn’t tell us much about how Osaka’s style will contrast with Serena’s in Saturday’s U.S. Open final, as the first match was just Serena’s fourth since returning from maternity leave and, as she’d later admit, she wasn’t in the right shape to be winning matches. Still, even with Serena playing at 40% of her capabilities, we saw how Osaka responded to seeing her across the net. There was no fear, no awe, no deference. Osaka says she often asks herself “what would Serena do?” And what Osaka did in that Miami match is exactly what a young Serena would have done to one of the stars of the game back in 1999. No fear. ... [I]n the past year, she’s defeated the world Nos. 1 and 2 in hard-court matches and took home the title at the prestigious Indian Wells tournament. ... PREDICTION: Naomi Osaka in straight sets.
Serena is an old cow (36) compared to Osaka (20). So is Roger Federer (37), who didn't lose recently just because it was hot and humid. Tiger Woods is 42 and hasn't won anything important in ten years but keeps trying. The old bulls fall to the young bucks, eventually, that's nature's way.
The old bulls just don't want to accept it sometimes, that's all. And then out come the excuses. Too bad for tennis that this time the excuses were political. But hey, Kaepernick paved the way. Expect more of the same.
Personally I can't wait for Osaka to cream Serena again.
