Naomi Osaka wins US Open after Serena ‘umpire thief’ meltdown.  Naomi Osaka opens up on US Open final controversy

NEW YORK, NY – SEPTEMBER 08: Naomi Osaka of Japan poses with the championship trophy after winning the Women’s Singles finals match against Serena Williams of the United States on Day Thirteen of the 2018 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 8, 2018 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Julian Finney/Getty Images/AFP

Naomi Osaka became the first Japanese/Haitian to win a Grand Slam singles title on Saturday as her idol Serena Williams angrily imploded, calling the chair umpire in the US Open final “a thief”.

apanese tennis player Naomi Osaka on Thursday said that Serena Williams’ row with the umpire did not make her sad about winning her first Grand Slam title. Speaking to reporters at a news conference in Yokohama, the 20-year-old said, “For me, I don’t feel sad because I wouldn’t even know what I’m expected to feel. Because it was my first final and my first Grand Slam victory, overall I felt really happy and I know that I accomplished a lot.”

Osaka, who became the first Japanese to win a Grand Slam, also addressed the controversy at a chat show, “Ellen Show“, on Wednesday. Speaking to the host Ellen Degeneres, Osaka talked about what Williams told her after she defeated her in straight sets to clinch the title, as the crowd continued to boo over the controversial decisions made by the referee. “She (Serena) said, like, she was proud of me and that I should know that the crowd wasn’t booing at me. So I was really happy that she said that,” Osaka said.

“At the time, I did kind of think they were booing at me ’cause I couldn’t tell what was going on because it was just so loud in there, so it was a little bit stressful,” she further added.