Japan’s Rei Sakamoto wins junior Australian Open title

Japan’s Rei Sakamoto, 17, became just the second Japanese player to win a junior boys’ Grand Slam singles title on Saturday, topping Jan Kumstat of the Czech Republic in a tight three-set Australian Open final.

Sakamoto, the No. 4 seed in Melbourne, had dropped just a single set on his way to the final but needed to dig deep in a 3-6, 7-6, 7-5 comeback win over Kumstat. The 193-centimeter student at Aichi Honor High School was ranked 7th in the junior world rankings heading into the tournament.

Shintaro Mochizuki is the only other male Japanese player to win a junior Grand Slam. Mochizuki, who had his breakout performance on the ATP Tour last October when he made a thrilling run to the semifinals of the Japan Open, won the junior Wimbledon title in 2019.

Tokito Oda in action during his men’s wheelchair singles final at the Australian Open on Saturday.
| Reuters

Sakamoto wasn’t the only Japanese player to triumph Down Under this year. Tokito Oda continued to carry the baton for retired legend Shingo Kunieda, winning the wheelchair men’s singles title in Melbourne in straight sets over No. 1 Alfie Hewett of the United Kingdom. At just 17 years old, Oda only needs to win the U.S. Open to complete a career Slam after triumphs last year at the French Open and Wimbledon. Oda didn’t drop a set in the tournament and breezed through Saturday’s final 6-2, 6-4.

The ending wasn’t as bright for Yui Kamiji, who fell to world No. 1 Diede de Groot in the wheelchair women’s singles final by a 7-5, 6-4 scoreline. That’s been a familiar story for Kamiji against the Dutch star: The win was de Groot’s 21st singles Slam, with 16 of the wins coming at the expense of Kamiji in the finals.

Information from Jiji added