Naomi Osaka’s 2016 Australian Open Run Ended By Victoria Azarenka In Third Round

Naomi Osaka (click to enlarge)

There will be better days ahead for 18-year old Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka. With her big game and charming personality, she became a bit of a media magnet following her upset of 18th seed Elina Svitolina in round two. Unfortunately, in round three Naomi ran into Victoria Azarenka, who is on fire right now. Vika made quick work of Osaka, 6-1 6-1. But tennis today is different from even 10 or 15 years ago. Naomi has plenty of time at 18 to develop. At one time in the women’s game, you could expect players to come up and be Major champions by the time they are 20. The power and physicality of today’s game is different. While Osaka works on her shots, she will also continue to work in the gym (hopefully) and grow into her full abilities. Even beyond Serena, while young players still win Majors like Petra Kvitova, a lot of recent Major winners are older players. Li Na, Flavia Pennetta, Francesca Schiavone and Marion Bartoli were all seasoned veterans when they won their Major (Li Na won two). In fact, Flavia and Marion won their Major and then retired from the tour before the next Major. So Naomi has plenty of time. She just needs to keep working and improving, and learn from facing a proven champion like Vika.