4 PROVING IT Naomi Osaka sends a serve to her opponent during the 2019 Australian Open Whack Naomi Osaka's tennis racket smacked the ball and sent it zooming into the net It was her second missed serve in a row The double fault gave a point to her opponent Ashleigh Barty Osaka lost the first set 3-6
FACTS AT A GLANCE Date of Birth October 16 1997 Position singles tennis player League Women's Tennis Association WTA Professional highlights became a pro tennis player at the age of 14 won the 2018 US Open won the 2019 Australian Open won the 2019 China Open Personal highlights was born in Osaka Japan began playing tennis the age of three loves to shop for clothes and play video games 5
Osaka and Barty were playing at the China Open in October 2019 The tournament in Beijing China is a Women's Tennis Association event Barty was the world's top singles player in the WTA Osaka and Barty share a handshake rankings Osaka after Osaka's incredible win at the was ranked fourth 2019 Australian Open Osaka took a 3-2 lead in the second set Barty served and Osaka took a fierce backhand swing The ball sailed past Barty to give Osaka a point When Barty hit the ball out of bounds a few moments later Osaka won the game She kept winning and took the set 6-3 6
Barty served first in the third and final set Osaka stayed back from the net to make sure Barty couldn't easily blast a shot past her The tennis superstars smacked the ball back and forth over and over again The set stayed even Finally Barty began hitting the ball out of bounds and into the net Osaka took the third set 6-2 to win the China Open She received a huge trophy and more than 1.5 million in prize money For much of 2019 Osaka had struggled to win Winning in China was proof that she was back and better than ever I really wanted to win here I felt like I had something to prove she said Osaka holds up the 2019 China Open trophy during the award ceremony 7
