Izuchukwu OkosiAustralian Open women’s defending champion, Aryna Sabalenka, on Thursday evening defeated world’s number 3, Coco Gauff, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 to return to the final of the tournament.
Gauff who edged her opponent to win the US Open last year was overwhelmingly in position of supremacy in the first set but Sabalenka pegged her back to get a fighting chance.
That turned out to be the case after a tennis match riddled with errors with six breaks before Sabalenka broke loose.
READ ALSO: 100 Club: Djokovic Reaches Fourth Round Of 2024 Australian Open With Milestone
Sabalenka will face Chinese 12th seed Zheng Qinwen in the final on Saturday.
The Chinese rival, Zheng, 21, reached her first Grand Slam final by ending Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska’s incredible run with a 6-4 6-4 win in Thursday’s second semi-final.
Zheng is aiming to become the second Chinese woman to win the Australian Open singles title – 10 years after Li Na’s famous victory.
Zheng said of her feat: “It feels unbelievable. I’m super excited to have such a great performance and arrive in the final.”
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
Follow Us