2018 US OPEN: Osaka Wins 1st Major Title, Serena Receives Controversial Penalties (Again)

In a stunning upset, 20-year-old Naomi Osaka defeated 36-year-old Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open final, 6-2 6-4 to win her first major title. Osaka became the first Japanese player to win a major title in 200 major tournaments played in the Open area. For the second consecutive grand slam,  the 23-time major champion lost in the final, which drops her record to a still-intimidating 23-8 record in major finals for her career.

HOW THE MATCH WAS WON

Osaka was simply the better player for most of the match, clearly able to play her best tennis despite her nerves which was not the case for Serena. Both players began their first service games with 0-30 holes but were then able to come through and hold serve. However in the very next game Serena fell behind on her serve and lost it on a double fault. For some reason, Serena's service percentage was well below 50% (approximately 38%) while Osaka's was around double this number and at least as fast. Despite starting at 30-0, Serena lost her service again at 1-3 and only at 5-1 down was Serena finally able to hold service again but then lost the first set 6-2. In the second set Serena was more focused, but this ended when she was awarded a code violation after the umpire Carlos Ramos claimed her coach Patrick Mouratoglou was trying to coach her from the stands by indicating Serena should approach the net. Serena broke serve and went up 3-1 but after she gave back the break Serena destroyed her racket and received a second code violation, which resulted in a point penalty. Serena continued arguing with the umpire and on the 3-4 changeover she said to Ramos "You stole a point from me, You're a thief!" he gave her a 3rd code violation which resulted in a game penalty, so instead of Osaka serving, Serena was forced to serve at 3-5. She was able to hold serve and then Osaka served out the 10th game and won the championship 6-2 6-4.

2018 US OPEN: Women's Final (and Semifinals Review)

Serena Williams (USA) [17] vs. Naomi Osaka (JPN) [20]

This is my prediction post for the 2018 US Open women's final. Last year I incorrectly predicted that Madison Keys would beat Sloane Stephens in the 2017 US Open final.  This year I have correctly predicted 3 of 4 women's quarterfinals, 3 of 4 men's quarterfinals, 1 of 2 men's semifinals and 1 of 2 women's semifinals. I will also predict the winner of the 2018 US Open men's final between Juan Martin del Potro and Novak Djokovic.

WOMEN'S SEMIFINALS REVIEW

Serena Williams (USA) [17] d. Anastasja Sevastova (LAT) [19] 6-3 6-0. I thought that this match would be a bit tougher than it turned out to be, thanks to the willingness of Serena to go to the net to finish points quickly.  Sevastova has aspects of her game similar to Roberta Vinci who provided Serena one of  her most devastating losses here in New York in 2015 when she was attempting the calendar Grand Slam. Because Serena's game is so powerful, people often have difficulty coming up with an effective game plan against her, but moving the ball around and mixing up pace is usually a better idea than trying to outhit her. She can get frustrated and impatient if she makes too many errors and then starts to press and make more errors. Sevastova attempted this strategy, but Serena remained calm and cool as she overwhelmed the Latvian with powerful strokes hit deep into the corners of the court.

Naomi Osaka (JPN) [20] d. Madison Keys (USA) [15] 6-2 6-4. This was a very impressive performance by the 20-year-old Japanese player. Keys is one of the most powerful players (on both tours). I was also impressed with the gains she has made in her movement and defensive abilities. But she still goes for broke way too often, leading to errors at inopportune times. However, it's not clear that Keys could have done much to avoid this result due to the level of play of her opponent. Osaka faced 13 breakpoints and saved all 13, oftentimes with aces (even on the second serve!) or unreturnable serves.  Meanwhile, she earned 4 breakpoints on Keys' serve and converted 75% of them. Both players served well, but, surprisingly, it was the younger player who played the bigger points better. She totally deserved to win this semifinal and reach her first major final, where she will play her idol.

WOMEN'S FINALS PREVIEW

Serena is appearing in her 31st major final (23-7) while Naomi is in her very first. In fact, Serena appeared in  (and won) her very first major final in 1999 in New York, exactly 19 years ago, when her opponent was not yet 2 years old. As I have mentioned very many times before, very few players win their very first major final (especially if they are playing against someone who has already played in one previously). As usual, both players have huge achievements at stake on the result of this match. If Serena wins she will finally match Margaret Court's grand slam total of 24 major titles (amazingly, exactly 45 years to the day Court won her last major) and will become just the 4th woman to win a major title after becoming a mother (Court, Evonne Goolagong and Kim Clijsters). If Osaka wins she will become the first Japanese player to win a major title (she's already the first Japanese woman to reach a major final) just four years after Kei Nishikori reached the US Open final. Their games are very similar, because Osaka has modeled hers after her idol and she has the physical gifts to do so. The problem is that Serena is the original, and even though she is almost 18 years older, she basically does everything better than Naomi. The only advantage Naomi has is her age, but that is a double-edged sword that can count for and against her. MadProfessah's pick: Serena.

WARNING: Russian Teams Dominate Collegiate Prestigious International Programming Contest Standings

Things that make you go hmmmm! The ICPC 2018 (ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest) was just held last week and the results could be ominous for future technological success by the United States.

The top 2 places were taken by two teams from Russia: Moscow State University (#1) and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (#2). Teams from China, Japan and South Korea rounded out the rest of the top 5. The highest an American team placed was #10 (University of Central Florida), which just edged out #11, which was from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Of the 13 teams in the top tier, 4 were from Russia and 3 were from China.

Jus' saying...

2016 RIO OYLYMPICS: Murray Outlasts Del Potro For 2nd Gold; Nishikori Beats Nadal For Bronze

The tennis is complete at the 2016 Rio Olympics and Great Britain Andy Murray became the first player to defend his singles Gold medal (from the 2012 London Olympics) by outlasting a spirited challenge from 2012 Bronze medalist Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in a four-hour 7-5 4-6 6-2 7-5 victory. Del Potro had beaten 2008 Gold medalist Rafael Nadal and World #1 Novak Djokovic in two very high quality matches (featuring three tiebreaks all won by the Argentine) to reach this point. Nadal captured the Rio Olympics Gold medal in men's doubles with his longtime friend Marc Lopez. But Nadal was unable to win a medal in singles when Kei Nishikori of Japan defeated him in 3 sets in the Bronze medal match 6-2 6-7(1) 6-3.

Venus Williams became the first tennis player to win 5 Olympic medals when she earned a silver medal in the Mixed Doubles with partner Rajeev Ram as they lost to another American duo: Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock. Sock won a Bronze medal in men;s doubles by partnering with Stevie Johnson, defeating his usual doubles partnerVasek Pospisil of Canada (partnering with Daniel Nestor) along the way. Both Venus and Serena have four Gold medals (3 doubles together and 1 singles each).

POLL: Marriage Equality Has Majority Support In Japan

A new poll shows that marriage equality has majority support in Japan. This is something of a surprise because previous polls have shown that support for LGBT equality is not high in the Asian island nation.

Fifty-one percent of people polled by researchers from universities and the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research back such partnerships, the Asahi newspaper reported. Support exceeded 70 percent among respondents in their 20s and 30s, while 38 percent in their 60s and 24 percent in their 70s were in favor, the Asahi said.

Hat/tip to TowleRoad 

2014 US OPEN: Cilic Beats Nishikori To Win 1st Major Title

As I predicted yesterday, Marin Cilic of Croatia defeated Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-3 6-3 6-3 in just under 2 hours to win the 2014 U.S. Open men's championship, the first time a player outside of the Top 10 had won a major since Pete Sampras did it as the #17 seed in 2002 (to win his 14th major).
It was the first major final for both competitors, and the first time since January 2005 Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic were not among the finalists of a grand slam. On Saturday #1 seed Djokovic and #2 Federer were both defeated (by Nishikori and Cilic, respectively) in two of the biggest upsets the sport has ever seen on the same day.

Both players will be in the Top 10 when the new ATP rankings are released, with Nishikori moving up to a career high #8 and Cilic right behind him at a career high of #9. Cilic becomes the first player from Croatia to win a major title since his coach Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon (as a wild card!) in 2001.

Cilic played incredibly well at the most crucial stage of the tournament, winning his quarterfinal, semifinal and final matches in straight sets, the first person to do that at the U.S. Open since Federer did it in 2007. Nishikori, on the other hand played, two gripping 5-sets, 4-hour matches in the 4th round (d. #5 seed Milos Raonic) and quarterfinal (d. #3 seed Stan Wawrinka) before beating #1 seed Djokovic in 4 sets and 3 hours on Saturday. As I suspected, that was simply too muvh tennis (more mentally than physically) for one person to handle and Cilic reaped the rewards today.

2014 US OPEN: Nishikori Stuns Djokovic To Reach First Major Final

Kei Nishikori defied predictions and historical precedent and followed up his two five-set, four-hour matches with a 4-set, 3-hour win over World #1 Novak Djokovic. By winning 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) 6-3, Nishikori became the first Asian male player to reach a grand slam final. Djokovic had reached the last five major finals (and four consecutive finals in New York) so his loss in the semifinal was quite a shock.

TENNIS TUESDAY: Kei Leapfrogs Rival To Reach World #9

SPECIAL K

Kei Nishikori makes history this week by becoming the first male player from Japan to reach the Top 10. of the ATP World Rankings. Fresh off his impressive performance in the finals of his first Masters 1000 event in Madrid, Nishijori jumps over Milos Raonic, John Isner  and Richard Gasquet (respectively) to land at World #9.

NO SWISS PATERNITY LEAVE?
Roger Federer is back on the Tour less than a week after his twin sons Lenny and Leo were born on Tuesday May 6th. He arrived in Rome on Monday (with wife Mirka's blessings) and will play his first round match against Jeremy Chardy. Last year he lost in the final of Rome to Rafael Nadal.

NOLE OF YOUR BUSINESS
Novak Djokovic refuses to disclose the precise due date of his first child's birth will be, probably since he is not married to the mother (yet)! Nole said "It will happen at the end of the year," presumably after he marries his fiancee Jelena Ristic.

WILL SHE OR WON'T SHE?
Serena Williams withdrew from her defense of her Madrid title rather than face Petra Kvitova in the semifinals with a bum leg, ceding the title to Maria Sharapova, who obliged. Serena still has the bum leg but she is also in Rome hoping to defend her title there as well. Or will she pull out to give her body some more rest instead of a tough first match against Andrea Petkovic before her Roland Garros title defense begins in less than two weeks?

VENUS BACK IN ACTION
Venus Williams won her first two matches in Rome against Annika Beck 6-3 6-1 and Mona Barthel 6-2 6-2 but should face a tougher test in Carla Suarez Navarro in the 3rd round. If she gets past that she has the winner of the Madison Keys-Simona Halep match.

Kvitova Beats Kerber To Win WTA Tokyo Title

Petra Kvitova had a very good week in Tokyo, Japan, winning the Pan Pacific Open by defeating Angelique Kerber 6-2 0-6 6-3 in the final, the first WTA title decided between two left-handed players in over 20 years. Kvitova outlasted Venus Williams in the semifinals, winning 6-3 3-6 7-6(2) while Kerber beat Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets. It was Venus' best showing at a tournament all year, and she hit a serve at 129.9 mph (209.0 kph) that will not be documented by the WTA as a record due to a technicality.

Kvitova, 23, who is reportedly dating 34-year-old fellow Czech Radek Stepanek, will rise to World #7, making her atleast the third WTA champion the ATP champion has dated in his career. Stepanek married former WTA star Nicole Vaidisova in 2010 but they announced they were getting divorced in June 2013.

Williams Beats Azarenka. VENUS Williams!

Wow! Unsurprisingly, a Williams sister beat World #2 Victoria Azarenka in Japan yesterday. The surprise is that it was Venus Williams who did it, and the score was 6-2 6-4. Even more surprising comes the remarkable news that Venus has now never lost to Azarenka, and this was their third meeting. Azarenka has been feeling sick for the last three days and was clearly not at her best:

Azarenka talked about her physical condition afterwards in her post-match press conference.

"I haven't been feeling well the last few days and haven't been able to practice," Azarenka said. "It has been very frustrating. But I got out there for the people. Everyone was waiting a long time for this match, so there was no way I wasn't going to go out there. I appreciate people coming out and paying for the tickets - they should see the players play. And I tried my best. I did whatever I could do today.

"But you have to be at your best to play against a top player like her. So all the credit to her."

Williams scored her first win over a Top 2 player since beating Dinara Safina at Wimbledon in 2009.

"I don't think Victoria was feeling her best - hopefully she'll be feeling better and ready for Beijing - Lord knows I know what it's like not to feel great," Williams said. "But other than that, obviously it's great to win today, but the tournament's not over, it just started, so I have to continue playing well now."

Williams and Azarenka's other two meetings came at the Olympics in 2008 (Williams won, 63 62) and Dubai in 2010 (Williams won, 63 75). Williams improves to 3-0 in her head-to-head against Azarenka.

World #1 Serena Williams is not playing in the Pan Pacific Open (and probably will skip the entire Asian swing) but will most likely return to the WTA Tour just to play the WTA Year End Championships in Istanbul next month, where she is the defending champion.

Serena turns 32 years old on Thursday. Two weekends ago she beat Azarenka to win her 17th major title at the 2013 US Open.

Hat/tip to the Daily Bagel

Murray Beats Nadal To Win 20th Tour Title

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

Andy Murray continued his recent hot streak by winning his second consecutive title in as many weeks by defeating World #2 Rafael Nadal 3-6 6-2 6-0 in Japan to clinch the 20th title of his career. Nadal was defending champion and was not struggling physically, but was simply outplayed by the Scot, who appears to be playing some of his most aggressive tennis of the year. Murray had lost five consecutive matches in a row to Nadal, and improved his head-to-head to 4 wins and 13 losses.

Nadal now has a record of 3 wins and 7 losses in finals for 2011, with 6 of those losses (in a row!) coming to World #1 Novak Djokovic who announced he will not be playing in the Shanghai Masters tournament which starts this week.

First Openly Gay Politician Elected in Japan

Taiga Ishikawa, 36, has become the first openly gay person elected to public office in Japan.

Acording to Agence France Press:

"I hope my election victory will help our fellows nationwide to have hope for tomorrow, as many of them cannot accept themselves, feel lonely and isolated and even commit suicide," he told AFP.

Ishikawa, 36, won a seat in a Tokyo ward assembly in local elections on Sunday. Prior to his victory, no openly homosexual politician had won office in Japan.

[...]

Ishikawa disclosed that he is gay in his autobiographical "Boku No Kareshi Wa Doko Ni Iru" (Where Is My Boyfriend?)," published in 2002.

"Many readers of my book told me that they are isolated and the situation I wrote about in the book is so similar to theirs. So I started to host events that offer opportunities to have links with friends," Ishikawa said.

He founded the non-profit organisation "Peer Friends", which hosts events in Japanese cities to provide young gay men with opportunities to meet other gays.

Since February 2010, he has served as a private secretary to Mizuho Fukushima, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, a small opposition group.

It still amazes me that we are recognizing historic firsts in the LGBT community in 2011.

Hat/tip to TowleRoad.