Australian Open 2021 LIVE updates: Osaka, Brady trade breaks in first set of women’s final; Stosur/Ebden chase doubles title

Pinned post from 6.19pm

The match-up

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8.11pm

Brady holds serve to love

Brady won her service game to love to take a 4-3 lead but Osaka didn’t take long to match her.

It’s now 4-4 and who knows which player will blink next. When they played at the US Open the first set went to a tiebreak, I wonder if this set will mimic it.

8.06pm

Brady breaks back!

Jennifer Brady showed nerves of steel to break back against Naomi Osaka’s formidable serve in the very next game following her own loss of serve.

Osaka looked comfortable but was forced into deuce and she couldn’t find a way to advantage.

It’s 3-3 in the first set with Brady serving for the lead.

8.00pm

Osaka breaks Brady!

Jennifer Brady has conceded the break with Osaka forcing her to 15-40 and then Brady hitting a double-fault.

Osaka earlier sped through her second service game and she is serving for a 4-1 lead now.

7.55pm

Brady holds but had a scare

Brady had a 40-0 lead in her first service game but some errors and some brilliance from Osaka saw the game go to deuce with two of them required before Brady could smash home a win.

It’s 1-1 in the first set.

Jennifer Brady enters the court.Credit:Eddie Jim

7.47pm

Osaka is serving first

Naomi Osaka is serving first as that was her choice after she won the toss.

Osaka is in her navy blue and apricot coloured outfit with a navy blue visor while Brady is in her light blue dress and white visor.

Osaka has held serve and is up 1-0.

7.44pm

Hit-ups have begun

Three-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and challenger Jennifer Brady are on court and completing their final shots and serves before starting play.

There are about 10,000 fans or so in the area, it’s reportedly about half full but there is a lot of noise and excitement given we haven’t had this kind of indoor sporting event in Melbourne since before the COVID-19 pandemic kicked off.

7.30pm

Osaka v Brady

Naomi Osaka and Jennifer Brady have some very recent history as they prepare to face-off in tonight’s Australian Open women’s singles final.

The two players played out an engrossing three-set semi final at the US Open last September which saw Osaka triumph in 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 then she would go on to win the US Open.

Osaka’s power and big game experience proved vital in a very tightly contested match as she converted 84 per cent of her first serve points compared to 77 per cent from Brady.

But Brady has shown throughout this tournament that she has an infinite level of grit and fight, even when facing an opponent with such power and talent and watch for Brady’s forehand as it is among the fastest in the WTA with an average speed of 123km per hour.

The American is still learning how to handle the demands of playing this deep into a grand slam tournament but she has shown no fear whoever she is facing.

The two players should be on court just after 7.30pm AEDT and will complete final hit-ups before beginning the final.

7.11pm

Opinion: Farewell, Serena? Not so fast

By Kurt Streeter

Serena Williams will be back.

Count on it.

After her humbling semi-final loss to Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open, the questions came hard and fast. Had Osaka’s slashing forehands shouldered Williams to the edge of retirement?

Was this the last time Williams would grace the sea-blue courts of the Australian Open, a tournament she has won seven times?

Serena Williams during her lost to Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open.Credit:Getty Images

At one level, those questions made sense.

What more, after all, does she have to prove?

Click here to read the story.

7.04pm

Watch: Alcott says Osaka has nothing to lose after dodging elimination

Replay

6.51pm

Embracing the big moments takes Osaka, Brady into women’s final

By Sam McClure

Wim Fissette has coached some of the world’s best players. From Kim Clijsters to Angelique Kerber to Naomi Osaka.

And the one thing they all do – according to the Belgian – is embrace the big moments; the big matches. But none more than Osaka.

Saturday night’s finalists: Jennifer Brady and Naomi Osaka.Credit:Getty Images

“When I bring my kids to the toy store, they’re very excited. And Naomi was that excited to go on court with Serena,” Fissette said, reflecting on Osaka’s semi-final win over Serena Williams.

“It was beautiful to see. In the end, this is why you do it. This is what you train for.”