All about Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka

Factbox on Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who beat American Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-3 in the Australian Open final to win her fourth Grand Slam title on Saturday.

Born: October 16, 1997 in Osaka, Japan

Age: 23

Grand Slam titles: 4 (Australian Open 2019, 2021; US Open 2018, 2020)

EARLY LIFE

* Born to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father, Osaka grew up idolising 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.

* Moved to New York when she was three years old and turned professional in 2013 aged 15.

* Played in the main draw of a WTA event for the first time at Stanford in 2014. Beat Sam Stosur in the first round before losing to Andrea Petkovic.

CAREER TO DATE

* Made her Grand Slam debut as a qualifier at the Australian Open in 2016, beating Elina Svitolina in the second round before losing to Victoria Azarenka.

* Cracked the top 100 in the world for the first time in April 2016 and the top 50 later in the year.

* Named 2016 WTA “Newcomer of the Year” after making third-round appearances at three Grand Slams and reaching her first WTA final.

* Won her first WTA title in March 2018 in Indian Wells, beating Maria Sharapova, Karolina Pliskova and Simona Halep along the way.

* Beat Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open final to claim her maiden Grand Slam title and finished the year ranked fifth in the world.

* Beat Petra Kvitova in the 2019 Australian Open final to become the first player since Jennifer Capriati in 2001 to win the next Grand Slam after her maiden major.

* Beat Azarenka to win her second US Open title in 2020. Osaka turned up for each of her seven matches wearing a face mask carrying the name of a Black American to highlight racial injustice in the US.

* Beat Brady to win her second Australian Open title and fourth Grand Slam crown, extending her win streak to 21 matches.

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