Australian Open 2021: Naomi Osaka dominates Serena Williams to sail into final

The Australian Open semis began on Thursday. The women's singles department saw the first finalist in the form of Naomi Osaka, who beat Serena Williams. The tournament would see a new champion in the department, after defending champion, Sofia Kenin, was knocked out.

Reigning world number three, Naomi Osaka of Japan came up with a dominating performance to tame world number 11, United States of America's Serena Williams to become the first finalist of the women's singles. She beat her in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

It was all going good for the American in the opening two games of the first set, as she already broke the Japanese in the opening game. While he almost took a double lead, it is where the comeback of Osaka began.  The Japanese earned a couple of breaks through her backhand, while both the players followed it up with a series of forehands, as Osaka grabbed the lead in the opening set.

In a payback, the Japanese earned the first break of the second set in the opening game itself. As she took a 4-2 lead, a series of double faults allowed the American to break back. Nonetheless, Osaka knew precisely what do so, as she fired in a series of ferocious winners, both through the backhand and forehand, while Serena struggled with her fast movements.

As Osaka sealed the match, she has qualified for her second AO final, having won the first title here in 2019. She would now face a first-time finalist, either of world number 24 Jennifer Brady of the USA or world number 27, Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova.