Naomi Osaka beats Jennifer Brady in Australian Open final to win fourth Grand Slam title

Naomi Osaka has won her fourth Grand Slam title with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Jennifer Brady in the final of the Australian Open.

Naomi Osaka celebrates victory in the Australian Open final

The 23-year-old is the first female player to win four Grand Slam singles titles since Maria Sharapova in 2012, and the youngest since Monica Seles won the 1992 Australian Open.

She is also just the third player in tennis history after Seles and Roger Federer to win four Grand Slam singles titles in four attempts.

Osaka took the first set after some bad errors in the final game from Brady, who was competing in her first Grand Slam final, and the third seed took control of the match from then on, taking a 4-0 lead in the second set before proceeding to victory.

Hard-court specialist Osaka is now unbeaten since February 2020 with this win her 21st successive match victory.

She defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round before seeing off Caroline Garcia in the second. Ons Jabeur fell to Osaka in the third round with Garbine Muguruza succumbing in the fourth.

Osaka then defeated Hsieh Su-wei and Serena Williams to reach the final against Brady, who had seen off Ashleigh Barty and Karolina Muchova in the final rounds.

Speaking after the game as she held the Daphne Akhurst Trophy, Osaka paid tribute to the positive impact of the spectators.

"It feels incredible to have fans... I played the last Grand Slam without fans and to have this energy means a lot,” Osaka said.

"I feel like playing in a Grand Slam is a privilege.”

Osaka has been making waves on and off the court; becoming a formidable opponent as well as using her prominence as an athlete to raise awareness of particular causes.

She withdrew from the 2020 Cincinnati Open to raise awareness for the shooting of Jacob Blake, which led to tournament organisers postponing all ATP and WTA matches for 24 hours in support, and during the 2020 US Open wore face masks displaying the name of African Americans killed in the last few years including Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, and George Floyd.

Osaka's next step on the court at least, will be seeking success at the French Open and at Wimbledon.