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Osaka Naomi wins US Open

Sep 13, 2020 (NHK) - Japanese tennis star Osaka Naomi has won the women's singles title at the US Open.

She beat Victoria Azarenka of Belarus to claim her third women's singles Grand Slam. Osaka won the US tournament in 2018.

The final took place on Saturday without any spectators due to the pandemic.

Osaka is ranked 9th in the world and Azarenka is ranked 27th.

In the first set, Azarenka took control with strong and precise shots. Osaka lost the set 6-1.

In the second set, Azarenka won first two games. But Osaka regained momentum and prevailed 6-3.

In the third set, the two broke each other's service games. But Osaka scored aggressive shots at crucial moments and won the set 6-3.

At the Open, Osaka has been showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement. She wore a face mask with the name of a Black boy who was shot dead by police in Ohio.

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Japan’s World Cup campaign ended in the cruelest possible fashion on June 29, as Gabriel Martinelli scored in the fifth minute of stoppage time to give Brazil a 2-1 victory over the Samurai Blue in their knockout match in Houston. Japan had led in the first half and were still level at 1-1 in the final moments, but Martinelli’s late strike sent Brazil into the Round of 16 and eliminated Japan from the tournament.

Strong earthquakes have continued to shake parts of Japan in recent weeks, with 11 temblors measuring lower 5 or above on the Japanese seismic intensity scale recorded across the country since April 2026.

A Kintetsu Railway train derailed inside Kyoto Station on the morning of June 29, forcing partial suspensions on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line for the rest of the day and causing long delays that hit commuters, students and tourists.

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Japan advanced to the knockout stage of the World Cup after a 1-1 draw with Sweden on June 25, finishing second in Group F and setting up a Round of 32 clash with Brazil in Houston.

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