‘It feels really incredible for me’

Naomi Osaka gave Jennifer Brady a lesson in Grand Slam tennis as she cruised to a 6-4, 6-3 win to secure her second Australian Open title yesterday and cement her standing as the new queen of the women's game.

Osaka's victory over the 22nd-seeded American at a floodlit Rod Laver Arena gave the Japanese third seed her fourth major crown at the age of 23.

Fans hoping for a repeat of the pair's engrossing U.S. Open semi-final last year were left disappointed as Brady froze in the spotlight of her first Grand Slam final. U.S. Open champion Osaka played some way short of her best tennis and joined Brady in contributing to a dour, error-strewn first set.

But she settled to clinch six straight games, roaring to a 4-0 lead in the second before serving out the match to love. A big serve sealed it, causing Brady to fire a forehand return long, and Osaka held her racket over her head and beamed in an understated celebration.

Osaka, who won the 2019 tournament, offered Brady warm congratulations and thanked the fans at the trophy ceremony. "When we played in the semis of the U.S. Open, a couple of months ago, and I told everyone that 'Listen you're going to be a problem'. And I was right," said Osaka, who will be world number two when the rankings are updated. "It feels really incredible for me. I didn't play my last Grand Slam with fans so just to have this energy it really means a lot."

Naomi Osaka has proven without a shadow of a doubt that she is the successor to Serena Williams as the queen of women's tennis.

Ruthless in her execution on the court, Osaka was typically charming in her acceptance speech afterwards, with the crowd at times in stitches and others in rapturous applause as they got another window into the multi-faceted personality who is becoming the biggest star in women's tennis. However, despite the dominant scoreline, the Japanese star didn't have the final all her own way, admitting afterwards that Brady was "going to be a problem" for her after awkwardly asking her if she should call her "Jenny or Jennifer".

Osaka was assured when she needed to be to stop a bulldozing first set comeback from Brady and awesome once the second set began, breaking early before bullying the American on the way to the finish line.

At the age of 23, Osaka has now won four Grand Slams, two Australian Opens and two US Opens, to make her the undisputed superstar of her generation. She is just two Slams behind Serena Williams' tally at the same age, with the 23-time major winning 39-year-old having already achieved the 'Serena Slam' by her 24th birthday.