Society

Tennis: Naomi Osaka powers into Australian Open 3rd round

Feb 08 (Kyodo) - Women's world No. 3 Naomi Osaka served up a tennis master class at the Australian Open on Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-3 second-round victory over Caroline Garcia of France in Melbourne.

Seeking a second Australian Open title to go with her two U.S. Open championships, Osaka sealed the 1-hour, 1-minute win at Rod Laver Arena, with her 10th ace of the match.

Osaka, who won her first Grand Slam title in Melbourne in 2019, made virtually no mistakes in the first set apart from a pair of double faults while her opponent pressed. Garcia rallied at the last, fighting off three set points on her serve before Osaka put the set to rest with her second service break.

She seized control of the second set by breaking in the sixth game to go up 4-2, and both players held serve the rest of the way.

"It's really hard to play opponents like her because you never know what she's going to do and how hard she's going to hit," Osaka said of Garcia, who is ranked 43rd in the world. "So (the key was) just staying within myself."

Garcia relied on some pin-point serves to score four second-set aces, but Osaka was definitely on her return game.

Do Bears Prefer Acorns or Berries?

Bear sightings across Japan have already climbed to nearly twice the level recorded during the same period last year, prompting entry bans in mountain areas behind Kyoto’s Ninna-ji Temple and the cancellation of hiking events in Kansai, while new research suggests that the key to reducing encounters may lie in understanding what bears eat in each region.

Copper Thieves Target Japanese Shrines

Copper roofing panels were stolen from several shrines in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, including a city-designated cultural property, in the latest case amid a nationwide surge in copper thefts targeting shrines and temples across Japan, where soaring metal prices have fueled crimes that leave historic religious buildings damaged, exposed to the elements, and facing repair costs of millions of yen.

1200-Year-Old Temple on Miyajima Reduced to Ashes

Flames broke out on the morning of May 20th on Miyajima Island in Hiroshima Prefecture, home to one of Japan's World Heritage sites, destroying Reikado Hall near the summit of Mount Misen.

From Bento Boxes to Garbage Bags, Rising Costs Hitting Daily Life Across Japan

Uncertainty surrounding the situation in the Middle East is beginning to affect daily life in Japan, as concerns over crude oil supplies spread to restaurants, cleaning services and even household garbage disposal systems across the Kansai region.

Tochigi Robbery-Murder Suspect’s Wife Posted Dance Videos on Social Media

A 25-year-old woman arrested as a suspected ringleader in a robbery-murder case in Tochigi Prefecture once posted cheerful dance videos on social media and was remembered by those who knew her as an energetic and outgoing young woman.

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