At the 2018 US Open Women’s Final, celebrities like Lindsay Vonn, Pierce Brosnan, and Chevy Chase filled the stands to watch a blockbuster final starring the greatest woman tennis player ever, and the best up and coming talent in a long time, Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka. They did not disappoint.

All controversy aside. Osaka was too much for Serena Williams. It was almost as if Williams was playing a 16-year younger version of herself. Osaka had no trouble with Serena’s strokes or serve. She was just a better version of them. She quickly broke serve twice and closed out the first set 6-2. The second set will be remembered for the controversy on the court, as Serena went head to head not just with Osaka, but also with the Chair Umpire.

In all honesty, the whole “no coaching” is kind of ridiculous. How is that remotely cheating? Every other sport out there has coaches screaming instructions on the sidelines. Why would tennis be so different? Also, what’s wrong with a little attitude towards the ref? These men and women are not the end all be all. They can be wrong too. Why must they act so authoritative? I say get rid of these chair umpires entirely and leave it up to the computers to decide what’s in and out. The players can work out civility amongst themselves. Club players do it every day.

Nevertheless, it was an amazing run at the US Open for both Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka. For the rest of the field, especially the top women, it was a miserable tournament. My favorite to win the tournament, Simona Halep, lost in the very first round to a red hot Kanepi. Kanepi actually made it to the round of 16 where she met Serena Williams and gave her a run for her money in three very competitive sets. Another favorite whom I thought may pull through was Stephens. She’s been looking great this year, and the hard courts are a favorite surface of hers. Unfortunately for Stephens, it looked like she came out flat against 19^th ranked Sevastova and fell in two uncompetitive sets.

Another disappointment in my view was Maria Sharapova. She was looking sharp in the first three rounds and was the favorite against 30^th ranked Suarez Navarro. It was not to be for the five-time Grand Slam champion though. She was easily defeated by the consistency of Suarez Navarro.

Anyway, Let’s see what Osaka can provide in the coming months. I’m sure Serena will be right there.