Naomi Osaka beats her Idol Serena to win first Grand Slam

Naomi Osaka defeated Serena Williams in straight sets to win the U.S. Open on Saturday. The Final will be long-remembered for an emotional Williams getting a game penalty for verbally abusing the chair umpire, but it should not take away from Osaka’s triumph.

Osaka won an amount of $3.8 million in prize money for the event, but that is likely just the start as she seems almost destined to succeed Williams as the world’s highest-paid female athlete. Her off-court earnings are likely to soar ten-fold over the next couple of years from $1.5 million to more than $15 million.

Osaka is the first Japanese person man or women to win a Grand Slam final. The underdog Osaka did not shy away from the challenge, saying after her semifinal win over Madison Keys, “This is going to sound really bad, but I was just thinking, ‘I really want to play Serena.’”

Osaka’s strong showing for the 2018 tennis season, including a title at Indian Wells, has raised her marketing profile. The U.S. Open win sends her to another level for endorsements.

The 20-year-old Osaka has the potential to be the face of global tennis for the next decade, with Williams turning 37 this month.
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