Tennis news - 'Osaka's rise is a changing of the guard, playing Serena's game but bigger and better'

Osaka beat Williams in straight sets in a controversial US Open final, earning the young Japanese-Haitian star her first Grand Slam title.

And Woodbridge says it will be interesting to see how she copes with the new level of attention that her win will bring.

"The hardest part for a young athlete is to maintain the mental innocence once they have so much thrown at them off the court," Woobdridge said.

"It’ll be what the people around her are able to do to keep her the same way that she is – with that lovely demeanour about just getting out there and playing and laughing and having a bit of fun away from the court."

"Now everybody wants a piece of her," Woodbridge added. "What’s going to be challenging for her I think over the next few years is to be able to find ways to win when she’s not playing her best. And that has been the biggest issue in women’s tennis, is the consistency of their champions."

Woodbridge also says that there are many similarities between the playing styles of Osaka and the American she beat in New York.

"Osaka, she is a new generation playing Serena’s game. It’s not a mirror image of it, but what she did was she played Serena’s game bigger and better. Serving big, taking it on through big hitting. In essence we’re starting to see the new generation (created by) what Serena has done.

"And that’s the changing of a guard in a sense. Serena’s still got a chance to win Slams, no doubt about that. But for the first time, I think, she’s really shown in those big matches that she’s actually a bit uptight and nervous.

"She has to go into (those finals) as free as she is when she starts the tournament."