There are rarely any names more famous than Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka in the racket sport. The two bigwigs in women’s tennis have etched their names in history with some remarkable feats. Which leads one to wonder, are their styles similar? Famous sports journalist Ben Rothenberg gave his thoughts on the matter in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports.

Drawing parallels between Naomi Osaka with Serena Williams, Rothenberg can certainly be considered an expert on the subject. Four days from now, on Jan. 9th, 2024, his book on Naomi Osaka will hit shelves all across the country! But before delving into that, let’s have a look at what he said in the ES exclusive interview.

Ben Rothenberg weighs up Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka in exclusive interview

With a total of 73 titles, including 23 Grand Slam triumphs, Serena Williams has been ranked world number by WTA for a total of 319 weeks including a joint record of 186 consecutive weeks. The retired athlete is the only player to accomplish a Career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles but surprisingly, the 26YO Naomi Osaka can still hold a candle to her accolades. With 7 titles, including 4 Grand Slam titles, she is the first Asian to hold the top spot in women’s singles rankings. And the list keeps on growing.

Ben Rothenberg reiterated that these two are undoubtedly legends of the game. ‘Yeah, I mean, obviously, both successful champions, both powerful players, their games are a little similar. But not very similar in terms of their technique. They don’t really have the most similar technique on court in terms of their shots. And, the mechanics of their games are not the most similar.”

Referring to a common thread the two share, he added, “Sascha Bajin, I know who coached both of them. Who was Naomi’s coach when she won the US Open and who coached Serena or was a hitting partner for Serena. But kind of in a coaching role for a lot of years. He said once he thought the biggest similarities weren’t that much between them. And, the biggest similarities they both have, I think, big hair is what he said.‘

The EssentiallySports exclusive interview continued further, ‘So he didn’t think the similarities were very serious in terms of them as athletes. So I understand that as well. I think as much as, you know, Naomi looks up to Serena, I think that a lot of Serena’s personality. And, the way she handles her emotions and the way she competes. I think it’s different than Naomi for sure.‘

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Interestingly, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka have faced each other 4 times in their career and Osaka leads their H2H with a 3-1 margin. In fact, the Japanese won her first Grand Slam title defeating Serena Williams in the 2018 US Open! Osaka is the first woman to win a successive major singles title since Serena Williams in 2015. The 26YO recently made a comeback to competitive tennis after a 15-month-long hiatus.

The former number one brings down the curtain on Osaka’s comeback show in Brisbane

Naomi Osaka started off well with a win against the German, Tamara Korpatsch. She defeated her by a 6-3,7-6(9) margin in the first round of the Brisbane. But just when her fans were starting to dream something big on her comeback. The 31YO Czech international, Karolina Pliskova cut short Osaka’s comeback journey in the second-round match-up.

Osaka expressed her disappointment with the loss. But at the same time, she also mentioned that she felt good after playing two competitive matches after such a long gap. The 4 time Grand Slam winner revealed seeing her childhood heroes, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova had made her realize how short the career can be for every tennis player. So, she now looks forward to enjoying every little moment on the court.

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