NEW yORK 9 Sep (ANA) - Japan is celebrating its first ever Grand Slam tennis win after Naomi Osaka's US Open win over Serena Williams 6-2 6-4 at Flushing Meadows.

 

Ms Osaka stayed calm as Ms Williams went into meltdown after the umpire imposed a series of penalties.

 

She was later in tears waiting to be given her trophy as the partisan crowd booed the match officials.

 

The 20-year-old was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father but was raised in the US.

 

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe congratulated Ms Osaka on Twitter, thanking her for "giving Japan a boost of inspiration at this time of hardship" - an apparent reference to last week's Hokkaido earthquake in northern Japan that killed more than 20 people.

 

Tennis is less popular than other sports such as baseball, football and sumo wrestling in Japan, but after her win the Yomiuri newspaper said Ms Osaka was a "new heroine Japan can be proud of".

 

"The combination of her strength and childlike innocence is her charm," the newspaper said.

 

Ms Osaka faced hostility during what should have been a moment of joy as boos and whistles rang out around the Arthur Ashe stadium, and lowered the visor she had been wearing to hide her tears.(ANA)

FA/ANA/9 September 2018-----