Sakamoto becomes first Japanese junior to conquer Australian Open
When the final point of a quite surreally hard-hitting Australian Open boys' final fell the way of Rei Sakamoto, the Japanese player fell to one knee and swished his right arm across and above his body.
“It is the Samurai salute,” he said, before seconds later getting the home crowd on board as he donned an Akubra hat, the iconic Aussie cattleman’s best friend.
"G'day Mate," he said (fully accented) as he approached the on-court microphone in the presentation ceremony. It was the coolest and most endearing of moves from a very chilled new champion.
“I got the hat in Traralgon (last week’s junior tournament warm-up event). I asked my coach to hold onto it and he threw it to me at the end and I caught it,” said the 17-year-old.
For the record, Sakamoto won the boys' crown by beating the Czechia’s Jan Kumstat 3-6 7-6(2) 7-5 in two hours and 11 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
He is the first junior - boy or girl - to top the singles podium at the Australian Open and the first to win a Junior Grand Slam title since Shintaro Mochizuki conquered all before him at the Junior Championships, Wimbledon in 2019.
That does not, however, even begin to tell the story.
Kumstat is 16 years old and playing his first Grand Slam. He is ranked No. 43 in the junior world rankings. He had never been to Australia before and thundered down 25 aces against Sakamoto on Saturday afternoon. He was, early on in the match, quite brilliant and thereafter nothing less than very good and ought to feel aggrieved that he failed to win.
But in a maturity beyond his years he opted for the reflective outlook.
“I feel amazing. I lost but I am very happy with my appearance here,” Kumstat said. “I am happy to play in this arena, I enjoyed it.
“The first set for me was an unbelievable set. It’s the best I have ever played. There was only one break and he only had one break point on my serve.”
He loved every little bit of the afternoon he said: the sizeable crowd, the noise and the big court-side benches for the players replete with their own mini sun screens.
“I didn’t think there would be this many people," he said. "It’s very positive for the future because this is the best result of my life and I really enjoyed it.”
He was at one stage just two points from winning before effectively losing the match at 5-5 in the third when he lost his serve to Sakamoto on a fourth break point. Sakamoto then served out the match.
“I had 40-0 on my serve in that 5-5 game, a little bit unlucky and I think it was an amazing match," he said.
Sakamoto just about shaded it on an increasingly vibrant afternoon with the players - at a glance identical in their wearing of back to front baseball caps and tall, skinny physiques - never going at it less than 100 per cent.
Even the person in charge of the PA joined in, playing a succession of high tempo Lady Gaga tracks in between games midway through through set two. It was certainly in-keeping.
Sakamoto, meanwhile, hung in when he had no right to and for that alone deserved his title. Keeping the right frame of mind at all times was essential he said, pointing to his temple with his right index finger when he finally won the match.
“I am playing the best tennis of my life since last week, I am trusting myself,” he said. “The mental side is the most important part. It’s about focus, the brain. It’s the most important part, 80 per cent of tennis is the brain."
He heads back to Japan now before joining up with Japan’s Davis Cup squad in Cairo where they face Lebanon but does not expect to play.
It is for experience only he thinks but should the call come, his country can be assured he is ready.
A full list of results from the 2024 Australian Open Junior Championships is available here