Picking a Winner for the Australian Open 2019 Women’s Singles Final

The Australian Open reaches the finals in women’s singles this weekend. A veteran great faces one of the sport’s biggest rising stars.

Petra Kvitova takes on Naomi Osaka in the women’s final at this year’s Australian Open. Neither player has won the Grand Slam at Melbourne Park before. Both, however, are major tournament champions. Osaka is coming off of her 2018 US Open victory over American legend Serena Williams. Kvitova is a two-time Wimbledon champion in women’s singles.

The Australian Open final pits one of the sport’s hottest young stars up against one of the most accomplished veterans. Kvitova has returned to the WTA Tour in fantastic form. At Melbourne Park this month, she is yet to drop a single set.

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American Danielle Collins forced a tiebreak against Kvitova in the semifinals, but that was it. Otherwise, she has been dominant in every single match she’s played. Her record at Melbourne Park looks more or less perfect on paper.

As for Osaka, her finals run looks more scrappy than not. Obviously, she’s in the finals for a reason, but she had to really fight through some matches. Including her semifinals match with former world number one Karolína Plíšková, Osaka has three three-set matches so far at the Australian Open.

That doesn’t take away from her resume here this month though. If anything, it strengthens it. Osaka is a fighter. Although her soft-spoken nature comes out when addressing the media, she is ferocious on the courts.

Our pick for the Australian Open women’s singles champion is Osaka over Kvitova in three sets. With no historical head to head to draw from between the two players, it is coming down to who wants it more this weekend. Both have so much to play for and both have the backing of the fans. But, Osaka is our favorite and pick.

Can the current US Open champion and 21-year-old Osaka win yet another Grand Slam title? Will Kvitova continue her incredible return to the WTA Tour by adding a win at the Australian Open to her resume? Either result is fantastic for the sport.