Naomi Osaka was one set up and had three match points in the second set.
It appeared she was a shoe in to win her second consecutive Grand Slam title.
Her opponent, Petra Kvitova is a two time Wimbledon champion in the best shape of her life after recovering from hand surgery following a home invasion knife attack.
Petra saved those three match points and proceeded to win the second set.
I chose the picture that accompanies this morsel for contrast. It was taken in the second set when Naomi got hyper emotional and could have easily let the match get away. After being up a break and then losing the set 5-7, it was anyone’s guess if the 21 year old would reset and rebound or let her emotions cost her the title. Would she be able to silence the doom whisperer in her head that crept in and sabotaged her flow late in the second set?
She took a break to the locker room and…it’s reported, talked her way back into the match by declaring to herself how fortunate she was to be in the final.
When she returned to the court, the announcers were struck by her lack of emotion when winning or losing points in the third set. I don’t think it was a lack of emotion…just a lack of visible emotion very reminiscent of the great Bjorn Borg. It was as if she captured an inner Zen where nothing would distract her from playing her best tennis.
Naomi played beautifully and won the final set 6-4.
Now back to the picture. As the second set slipped away, she looked anything but Zen like with disgust after missing shots she made routinely in the first set.
What’s interesting is that the photo immediately following match point was nearly identical.
You almost thought she went to the Zen place once more with a congratulatory ‘way to go, Naomi, you hung in there and may have just solved the tennis puzzle that will lead to many more of these moments.’
** The doom whisperer is a concept from the book Comimg Alive by Barry Michels and Phil Stutz
What You’re Saying