Osaka claims U.S. Open title after Serena meltdown

Reuters - Naomi Osaka became Japan's first ever Grand Slam champion after she thumped Serena Williams 6-2 6-4 in a controversial U.S. Open final on Saturday (September 8), with the American suffering a meltdown after she was handed a code violation for on-court coaching. With Osaka in control of the match after taking the first set, Portuguese chair umpire Carlos Ramos sent Williams into a rage when he handed the 23-time Grand Slam champion a code violation in the second game of the second set after he spotted Williams' coach Patrick Mouratoglou making some hand signals from the player's box. A string of bad behavior followed from Williams and she went on to incur a point penalty for smashing her racket before being slapped with a game penalty at 4-3 down after she launched into a verbal attack against Ramos, accusing him of being "a liar" and "a thief for stealing a point from me". The game penalty put Osaka 5-3 up and the 20-year-old Japanese kept her cool to pull off a historic win. Later Mouratoglou admitted he had been trying to coach Williams from the stands with some hand signals but accused Osaka's coach Sascha Bajin of doing the same. The controversial finish cast a cloud over what should have been Osaka's shining moment. Standing on the podium waiting to be handed her trophy and a winner's cheque for $3.8 million, Osaka heard only boos as an angry crowd took out their frustration on Ramos.