Osaka brings “freshness” to tennis, says Woodbridge

Naomi Osaka is the latest exciting star to break through in the women’s game – and it could prove a boon for the sport in one of its biggest markets.

This is the view of Todd Woodbridge, the Australian doubles legend who watched Osaka out-hit and out-steady 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the recent US Open final.

The victory was the Japanese 20-year-old’s first major title and just her second tour-level title of any kind, after she won at Indian Wells in March.

Woodbridge believes it was a resonant triumph.

“A country that has been longing for this, who are absolutely just nuts about tennis, is Japan,” he told Tennismash.

“So it’s gonna set the game alight in that country to have a champion like that to be linked to them.

Insanity in Yokohama wAiting for Naomi Osaka to be presented as Nissan’s new spokeswoman. Crazy coverage. pic.twitter.com/TpII1lqR9Y

— Stephen Wade (@StephenWadeAP) September 13, 2018

“In terms of women’s tennis it’s a nice personality to have. She just brings a freshness to it which was really needed. The women’s game is (now) incredibly diverse with the champions that are coming out of there, so that’s a good thing in the global growth of women’s sport.”

Osaka is the latest in an increasingly big group of first-time Grand Slam champions on the WTA tour.

And many of them – such as Osaka, 2017 Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko and last year’s US Open champion Sloane Stephens – are young, charismatic and marketable with dynamic playing styles.

Since her triumph Osaka has cracked the top 10, appeared on a variety of US talk shows and has been signed as an ambassador for Japanese car manufacturer Nissan.

Now one of the game’s top players, her profile has exploded, especially in her homeland.

“The hardest part for a young athlete is to maintain the mental innocence once they have so much thrown at them off the court,” Woodbridge said.

“It’ll be what the people around her are able to do to keep her the same way that she is – with that lovely demeanour about just getting out there and playing and laughing and having a bit of fun away from the court. Because now everybody wants a piece of her.

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“What’s going to be challenging for her I think over the next few years is to be able to find ways to win when she’s not playing her best. And that has been the biggest issue in women’s tennis, is the consistency of their champions.

“For her and her game style – she’s going for it. She’s playing Serena style. She has to learn and watch how Serena’s been able to hang in and dominate in that way.”

“Hanging in” is perhaps an apt phrase for Williams, who at nearly 37 years of age and just a year on from giving birth to her first child has now reached the past two majors finals.

In a pro career spanning more than 20 years, the American superstar is still a force – but she has in the past couple of years showed increasing vulnerability at the business end of Grand Slam tournaments.

“It’s a pretty extraordinary performance to come back and be in two major finals within a year,” Woodbridge said of Williams.

“Intriguingly, I think she got nervous and tight in both of them. There were clear indicators (of that) in the way she reacted on court (to her code violations) in the US Open final.

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“What stood out to me is that she lost to (Angelique) Kerber in the Wimbledon final who has that ability to negate power with taking that ball early and sliding them down through the lines. But then against Osaka, she is a new generation (of player) playing Serena’s game. It’s not a mirror image of it, but what she did was she played Serena’s game bigger and better. Serving big, taking it on through big hitting.

“In essence we’re starting to see the new generation (created by) what Serena has done. And that’s the changing of a guard in a sense.

“Serena’s still got a chance to win Slams, no doubt about that. But for the first time, I think, she’s really shown in those big matches that she’s actually a bit uptight and nervous. She has to go into (those finals) as free as she is when she starts the tournament.”

Williams at one stage was a remarkable 21-4 in Grand Slam finals.

But she has lost four of her past six major finals since the beginning of 2016.

Woodbridge believed Serena’s quest for a record-equalling 24th major singles title was impacting significantly on her nerves.

“It’s the motivation to keep her playing, but it’s also a bit of a hindrance to achieving it,” he said.

“Without doubt it’s an added pressure.”