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   From: nigger-lovers@disney.com   
      
   MELBOURNE, Australia — As Serena Williams walked off the court   
   after her latest so-close-yet-so-far bid for a 24th Grand Slam   
   title ended with a loss to Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open,   
   the 39-year-old American paused and put her hand on her chest as   
   thousands of spectators rose to applaud.   
      
   Was this, Williams was asked at a news conference after the 6-3,   
   6-4 semifinal defeat, her way of saying goodbye?   
      
   “If I ever say farewell,” she replied with a smile, “I wouldn’t   
   tell anyone.”   
      
   When the next question returned the conversation to the subject   
   of Williams’ many mistakes Thursday — twice as many unforced   
   errors, 24, as winners, 12 — she shook her head, teared up,   
   said, “I’m done,” and abruptly ended the session with reporters.   
      
   Once again, Williams played well enough to get to the closing   
   days of a major tournament. And once again, she couldn’t quite   
   get the job done in order to add one more Grand Slam trophy to   
   her collection of 23 and equal Margaret Court for the most in   
   tennis history.   
      
   Osaka, who also beat Williams in the chaotic 2018 U.S. Open   
   final, reached her fourth major title match and stretched her   
   winning streak to 20 matches by claiming the last eight points.   
   She will face American Jen Brady, who defeated Karolina Muchova   
   6-4, 3-6, 6-4.   
      
   “I don’t know if there’s any little kids out here today, but I   
   was a little kid watching her play,” Osaka, 23, said about   
   Williams, “and just to be on the court playing against her, for   
   me, is a dream.”   
      
   The No. 3-seeded Osaka’s Grand Slam collection also includes   
   last year’s U.S. Open and the 2019 Australian Open and she is,   
   without a doubt, the most dangerous hard-court player in the   
   women’s game at the moment. That used to be Williams, of course.   
      
   “I could have won. I could have been up 5-love,” said Williams,   
   who instead took a 2-0 lead at the outset before dropping the   
   next five games. “I just made so many errors.”   
      
   Her forehand, in particular, went awry, with no fewer than 10   
   unforced errors off that side in the first set alone.   
      
   “Too many mistakes there,” she said. “Easy mistakes.”   
      
   Williams’ frustration was made plain early in the second set,   
   when she leaned over and screamed, “Make a shot! Make a shot!”   
      
   After collecting her professional era-record 23rd Slam singles   
   trophy at Melbourne Park while pregnant in 2017, Williams   
   reached four major finals and lost them all.   
      
   She’s also now lost in the semifinals twice in that span.   
      
   So on Saturday, at 7:30 p.m. local time (3:30 a.m. Eastern),   
   Osaka will meet a first-time Grand Slam finalist for the   
   championship.   
      
   “Everyone’s just really excited whenever they play their first   
   final, but they’re also really nervous,” Osaka said, then added   
   with a laugh: “So I don’t want to wish nerves on someone, but   
   hopefully one of them gets nervous.”   
      
   Osaka got out to a shaky start, as Williams went up 2-0, then   
   held another break point with a chance to lead 3-0 after another   
   double-fault by Osaka.   
      
   “I was just really, like, nervous and scared, I think, at the   
   beginning,” said Osaka, who was born in Japan and moved to the   
   U.S. when she was 3. “And then I sort of eased my way into it.”   
      
   Didn’t take long to right herself.   
      
   Suddenly, it was Osaka powering in aces, putting groundstrokes   
   right where she wanted, covering the court so well. Osaka never   
   has tried to hide how much she admires Williams and models her   
   game after the American’s.   
      
   Both are predicated on the same basic elements of big serves and   
   quick-strike forehands, and not only did Osaka do both better on   
   this day, she even sounded just like her idol, screaming “Come   
   on!” after several key shots.   
      
   There was one last test for Osaka. A trio of double-faults in   
   one game — she wound up with eight for the match — allowed   
   Williams to break for 4-all.   
      
   But Osaka regained her composure immediately, breaking back at   
   love with the help of a pair of backhand winners and a double-   
   fault from Williams, then holding at love to end it.   
      
   https://nypost.com/2021/02/17/naomi-osaka-stops-serena-williams-   
   bid-for-record-tying-24th-grand-slam-title/   
        
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
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