It was not the history that tennis buffs were dreaming about but history was still mad as 20 year-old Naomi Osaka beat 23-time grand slam champion, Serena Williams at the 2018 US Open
The Japanese player won in straight sets 6-2. 6-4 and becomes the first ever Japanese to win a tennis grand slam.
For Naomi whose idol is Serena, her moment waa ruined by the Chair Umpire, Mr. Carlos Ramos whose spat with Serena led to a most unfortunate incident in the imposing Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The Umpire charged Serena for a coaching violation and she protested, insisting that she would rather lose than cheat and she did not receive any form of coaching
Then at the end of the next game, Serena broke Osaka but was broken back and in disgust, Serena smashed her racket and she got a point deduction.
During the break, an angry Serena demanded an apology from the Umpire for trying to ruin her reputation and calling her a liar. Then she said if he would not apologize she would call him a thief for stealing her point.
Mr Ramos said that was verbal abuse and decucted a game from Serena. This took the gloss off the finals as Osaka went on to stay above the drama and win the Championship.
The crowd booed all through the trophy presentation, expressing their anger until the gracious Serena begged them and appealed to them to respect Naomi and applaud her for the victory.
It was instructive to note that Mr Ramos was not called out for his resentation as it is the norm, a wise decision by the tournament organisers because he would have been booed to the high heavens.
The 2018 US Open will be rounded off tomorrow with the Men’s final between Novak Djorkovic and Juan Martin Del Potro.
