Naomi Osaka’s biography, which was released a few days ago, has uncovered some untold claims and stories from her career, one of which happened after the 2018 US Open final.

Osaka, playing in her first Grand Slam final, faced her idol and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in front of a cheerful American crowd. 2018 was the Japanese player’s birth year as the next superstar of women’s tennis.

As it proved throughout the season with a long list of scintillating wins over seasoned campaigners like Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, and Simona Halep, it was only a matter of when and not if Osaka would arrive on the scene as a main-event player.

In Indian Wells that year, she gave tennis fans a glimpse of her potential when she won a maiden WTA title by dropping just one set during the week. The full circle moment happened later that season during the US summer when she won her first Grand Slam.

Osaka outclassed Serena Williams in the US Open championship match 6-2, 6-4, but the final will fondly be remembered for some of the contentious moments that happened during the match rather than the final outcome.

Williams, a decorated champion in New York and many parts of the world, was entangled in an argument with the chair umpire Carlos Ramos, who gave her three separate code violations, which resulted in an automatic game penalty.

Ramos opined that Williams received coaching instructions from her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, and issued her a warning despite repeated disputes by the legendary American. Her second code violation occurred after breaking her racket into the ground, where she was docked a point.

And the final nail in the coffin was sealed when Williams branded the Portuguese umpire a “thief” for “stealing” a point from her. Serena burst into tears, and despite her plea for a supervisor to be called into play, the match eventually slipped from her grasp.

In Osaka’s new book, which is authored by American journalist Ben Rothenberg, we learn, according to Tennis.com, that Williams was unimpressed and uninterested in the runner-up trophy and allegedly dumped it into the trash can.

“Once she was behind closed doors, Serena made her feelings about the relic of her loss clear, dumping the platter into a trash can.”

And despite the efforts of an attendant to try and retrieve it and hand it back to Williams, the American furiously declined, saying, “I. Don’t. Play. For. Second. Place.”

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2024 Australian Open Women’s Draw With Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Osaka & More

The women’s draw for the 2024 Australian Open was released, and all of the main favourites got to know their opponents.

Starting on January 14th, 2024, with the women’s event concluding on January 27th, 2024, the first Grand Slam of the new season is here, and with the draw, we already know everything we need to know ahead of the season’s first major.

Last year, Aryna Sabalenka won the title after she bested Elena Rybakina in the final, and both are back in 2024, but neither of the two is the top seed at the tournament, as that spot belongs to Iga Swiatek.

Despite not having that much success in the Melbourne Park in the past, the Pole will be still one of the top favourites, simply because she’s currently one of the most feared players on the WTA Tour.

As the top seed, Swiatek will start against Sofia Kenin in the first round of the tournament, while on the opposite side of the draw, second-seeded Sabalenka will prepare for her match against a qualifier.

While the top two seeds are always considered to be the two main favourites, last year’s finalist Rybakina would certainly like to insert her name into the conversation, and she did just that recently in Brisbane.

She allowed Sabalenka to win only three games in their final match, and rightfully, the third seed will be one of the favourites, but first, Rybakina will need to overcome former world no. 1, Karolina Pliskova in the first round of the tournament.

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Friday, 29 December 2023

Coco Gauff also started her season well when she defended her title in Auckland, but despite the triumph, she dropped to the fourth spot in the WTA Rankings, meaning she enters the Australian Open as the fourth seed.

The teenage prodigy will be once again in the spotlight, especially after her 2023 US Open triumph, and in the first round of the tournament, the fourth seed will take on Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

Naomi Osaka is another name in the draw that many fans will keep their eye on. The two-time champion returns to Melbourne, and she’s more motivated than ever. As an unseeded player, the former world no. 1 could draw anyone, and she drew the 16th-seeded Caroline Garcia in the first round of the tournament.

The women’s draw for the 2024 Australian Open features many exciting matchups and pathways to the title for the likes of Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur, and Maria Sakkari, so be sure to check out the full draw for the tournament below.

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2024 Australian Open Women’s Draw:

1. Iga Swiatek (1)

2. Sofia Kenin

3. Danielle Collins

4. Angelique Kerber

5. Qualifier

6. McCartney Kessler

7. Linda Noskova

8. Marie Bouzkova (31)

9. Elina Svitolina (19)

10. Taylah Preston

11. Kayla Day

12. Viktoriya Tomova

13. Jaqueline Cristian

14. Katerina Siniakova

15. Viktorija Golubic

16. Veronika Kudermetova (18)

17. Jelena Ostapenko (11)

18. Kimberly Birrell

19. Petra Martic

20. Ajla Tomljanovic

21. Greet Minnen

22. Clara Tauson

23. Camila Giorgi

24. Victoria Azarenka (18)

25. Emma Navarro (27)

26. Xiyu Wang

27. Elisabetta Cocciaretto

28. Qualifier

29. Yanina Wickmayer

30. Varvara Gracheva

31. Qualifier

32. Marketa Vondrousova (7)

33. Elena Rybakina (3)

34. Karolina Pliskova

35. Cristina Bucsa

36. Anna Blinkova

37. Tatjana Maria

38. Camila Osorio

39. Diana Shnaider

40. Jasmine Paolini (26)

41. Anhelina Kalinina (24)

42. Arantxa Rus

43. Anna Kalinskaya

44. Qualifier

45. Sloane Stephens

46. Olivia Gadecki

47. Peyton Stearns

48. Daria Kasatkina (14)

49. Qinwen Zheng (12)

50. Ashlyn Krueger

51. Katie Boulter

52. Yue Yuan

53. Emma Raducanu

54. Shelby Rogers

55. Yafan Wang

56. Sorana Cirstea (22)

57. Lin Zhu (29)

58. Oceane Dodin

59. Qualifier

60. Martina Trevisan

61. Aleksandra Krunic

62. Clara Burel

63. Qualifier

64. Jessica Pegula (5)

65. Maria Sakkari (8)

66. Nao Hibino

67. Zhuoxuan Bai

68. Elina Avanesyan

69. Marta Kostyuk

70. Claire Liu

71. Mayar Sherif

72. Elise Mertens (28)

73. Magda Linette (20)

74. Caroline Wozniacki

75. Alize Cornet

76. Qualifier

77. Sara Sorribes Tormo

78. Qualifier

79. Linda Fruhvirtova

80. Beatriz Haddad Maia (10)

81. Caroline Garcia (16)

82. Naomi Osaka

83. Magdalena Frech

84. Daria Saville

85. Yulia Putintseva

86. Qualifier

87. Kaja Juvan

88. Anastasia Potapova (23)

89. Leylah Fernandez (32)

90. Qualifier

91. Alycia Parks

92. Qualifier

93. Caroline Dolehide

94. Qualifier

95. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova

96. Coco Gauff (4)

97. Ons Jabeur (6)

98. Qualifier

99. Mirra Andreeva

100. Bernarda Pera

101. Kamilla Rakhimova

102. Emina Bektas

103. Diane Parry

104. Xinyu Wang (30)

105. Ekaterina Alexandrova (17)

106. Laura Siegemund

107. Qualifier

108. Sara Errani

109. Tamara Korpatsch

110. Jodie Burrage

111. Mai Hontama

112. Barbora Krejcikova (9)

113. Liudmila Samsonova (13)

114. Amanda Anisimova

115. Nadia Podoroska

116. Tamara Zidansek

117. Taylor Townsend

118. Paula Badosa

119. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

120. Donna Vekic (21)

121. Lesia Tsurenko (28)

122. Lucia Bronzetti

123. Rebeka Masarova

124. Aliaksandra Sasnovich

125. Ana Bogdan

126. Qualifier

127. Qualifier

128. Aryna Sabalenka (2)