Japan’s Naomi Osaka won her second Grand Slam in a row with a grueling 7-6(2) 5-7 6-4 victory over Czech two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the Australian Open final. Besides the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup, the players battled for their debut at the top of the WTA rankings and it was a fantastic match, in which Kvitova saved three match points in the second set and won five straight games to try to crush Osaka.
There were no breaks of serve in the entertaining first set, even though Kvitova had as many as five break points, including a 40-0 lead on Osaka’s serve in the seventh game, and Osaka had three, including two set points at 6-5.