Serena Williams defeats Naomi Osaka for the first time

Third time was the charm for Serena Williams against Naomi Osaka.

Williams earned her first career win against Osaka on Friday at the Rogers Cup quarterfinals. It was their first matchup since the 2018 US Open final, when Williams’ dispute with the umpire overshadowed Osaka’s upset.

Since then, the 21-year-old Osaka has only brightened her star in the tennis world, rising to No. 1 in the WTA World rankings heading into Friday. But Williams showed that she is nowhere near slowing down, defeating Osaka in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

“I just wanted to come out and try to win a set this time, because she’s beaten me twice,” Williams said, via tennis.com.

Osaka called Williams, 16 years her senior, her “tennis mom” prior to the match, to which Williams responded: “I’d say more or less tennis grandma. That was very kind of her to say mom. It was a better match for me today.”

Williams indeed controlled Friday’s match, which took just 75 minutes.

Williams, who is one major shy of a record-tying 24th Grand Slam title, is prepping for the U.S. Open later this month. Beating the world’s No. 1 player on Friday is pretty good sign that she is ready to go.

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