Generational Rivalry: Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner evenly split four majors in back-to-back seasons

Naomi Osaka is one of the most accomplished active tennis players out there, and she’s about to start a new chapter in her career as she makes her comeback as a mom-on-tour in Brisbane this week.

As a reminder of just how impressive her career has been so far, here are five of the most impressive statistics on her resume:

She’s a perfect 4-0 in Grand Slam finals. She's one of only four players in the Open Era, male or female, to achieve that feat.

PLAYERS IN OPEN ERA TO WIN FIRST 4+ MAJOR FINALS:

Roger Federer: won first 7 [2003 Wimbledon, 2004 Australian Open, 2004 Wimbledon, 2004 US Open, 2005 Wimbledon, 2005 US Open, 2006 Australian Open]
Monica Seles: won first 6 [1990 Roland Garros, 1991 Australian Open, 1991 Roland Garros, 1991 US Open, 1992 Australian Open, 1992 Roland Garros]
Naomi Osaka: won first 4 so far [2018 US Open, 2019 Australian Open, 2020 US Open, 2021 Australian Open]
Iga Swiatek: won first 4 so far [2020 Roland Garros, 2022 Roland Garros, 2022 US Open, 2023 Roland Garros]

Osaka isn’t just the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam title in tennis history, she’s also the first Japanese player to reach No. 1 in either ATP or WTA rankings history.

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She’s actually undefeated from the quarterfinals on at majors. She’s a flawless 12-0 once she gets past the fourth round of a major, going 4-0 in quarterfinals, 4-0 in semifinals and, as mentioned above, 4-0 in finals. She’s the only player in the Open Era, male or female, to do that.

More than half of her career titles have come at majors. Talk about rising to the occasion—four of the seven tour-level titles Osaka has won in her career have been Grand Slam titles. And her other three titles have been big ones, too—two WTA 1000s at Indian Wells in 2018 and Beijing in 2019, and one WTA 500 in her birthplace of Osaka in 2019.

She was the first player born in 1995 or later to reach No. 1 on either the WTA or ATP rankings. The 1997-born Osaka first rose to the top spot on January 28th, 2019 after winning her second straight major in Melbourne, and she would spend a total of 25 weeks there that year.

Osaka’s now one of six players born in 1995 or later to reach No. 1, having since been joined on the list by Ashleigh Barty, Daniil Medvedev, Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka.

She’s 49-3 at majors after winning the first set. Osaka’s been one of the best frontrunners on the women’s tour with only three career losses from a set up at the majors, falling to Simona Halep in the third round of 2016 Roland Garros, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, to Leylah Fernandez in the third round of the 2021 US Open, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4, and to Amanda Anisimova in the third round of the 2022 Australian Open, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5).

She was so close to winning those last two matches, too—she was three points away from beating Fernandez at the US Open up 7-5, 6-5 and had two match points against Anisimova in Australia.

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