Naomi Osaka, the US Open champion and the finalist Victoria Azarenka

Michael Adeshina

Naomi Osaka admitted Victoria Azarenka was a tough nut to crack and would not want to face the Belarusian in more finals.

Osaka said this after she overcame the battle of two former world No 1s to lift her third Grand Slam title.

She said: “Firstly, I wanna congratulate Vika, I actually don’t wanna play you in more finals, I didn’t really enjoy that. It was a really tough match for me.”

Watch the clip below:

The 22-year-old Japanese star fought back from a set down against Victoria Azarenka to lift her second US Open title in three years with a 1-6 6-3 6-3 victory.

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With the victory, the young star who was already the highest-earning female athlete in the world added another £2.3million in prize money to her fortune.

However, at the presentation ceremony, Naomi Osaka had the opportunity to speak on the Black Lives Matter movement.

She has been a vocal advocate for Black Lives Matter, wearing seven facemasks with seven names of Black men and women killed by police, during the 2020 US Open tournament.

Asked about her masks. “Seven masks. Seven names. What was the message you wanted to send, Naomi?”

Osaka responded: “What was the message that you got was more the question. I feel like the point is to make people start talking.”