the succession to The throne in women’s tennis is not cleared. Queen Serena, the Unique has not taken over their reign after her baby break and in the diadochi fighting, no player was able to assert itself. As in Melbourne the eighth finals of the Australian Open began, had seven players on the world ranking list to be first. Before the final this Saturday there are two. The Japanese Naomi Osaka and the Czech Petra Kvitova to fight not only the Grand Slam title, but also to the place at the top of the Tennis hierarchy (9.30 PM CET in the case of Eurosport).

Peter Hess

sports editor.

F. A. Z.

slowly the evidence that a legitimate successor to the 37-year-old Serena Williams as a ruler in the Tennis-out shell rich are piling up. With your 21 years, Osaka is now the second Time in a row in a Grand Slam final. In New York in September, she defeated in the final to Serena Williams 6:2 and 6:4 and let either by an outburst of the American against the referee, upset from the chauvinist audience. And also in Melbourne, underscore Osaka not only their great talent, their Mature and their tremendous Fitness. She showed the extraordinary stress resistance, which distinguishes a champion from a world-class player.

The 6:2, 4:6, 6:4 in the semi-final against the Czech Karolina Pliskova was her third hard-fought three set success in this tournament. Against Taiwanese Hsieh and against the Latvian Sewastowa you afterwards successfully ran a set of residue. That was until a year ago, your Problem. Behind them, they rarely get into the game. On the other hand, you can be after a leadership victory. Against Pliskowa you won to the 58. Times in a row after winning the first set.

Osaka confessed that she had to go against the Czech, who had previously thrown Serena Williams from the tournament, to their limits. “I had on several occasions reason to accept a defeat. But I’m proud of myself. I’ve learned to never give up.“ Their nerves showed in the third set, in two decisive moments. When the score was 4:3 you prevented Pliskovas Re-Break with an ACE, and also the match ball, she turned with a As. “I watched with all my power the Ball into the box,” joked Osaka on the match ball, the first Hawkeye to safety, whether or not the Ball had touched the line.

in Florida, who grew up and live in Osaka is traded in the final, in spite of their youth as the favorite. The 1.80-Meter-wide Japanese can tolerate the heat in Melbourne is better than Kvitova, and owns, the richer the game. 15 aces, and 56-Winner against Pliskova values are absolute peak. For Petra Kvitova, speak to your current Form, it is in 2019, still undefeated, and their record in tournament finals. They won not only two weeks ago, the preparation tournament in Sydney, but also the nine final games before they reached.

among them, was however, Slam is not a Grand. The Wimbledon champion of 2011 and 2014 prior to the urge then only twice at the US Open in the quarter-finals and failed otherwise, based on their Potential, unreasonable in the morning. After her first-round defeat at Wimbledon in 2018, she said ironically: “Maybe I should Grand Slam tournaments to be deleted from my game plan.”