Rei Sakamoto, the Australian Open 2024 boys’ singles champion, is the latest Japanese player to earn a piece of tennis history.
MORE: Sakamoto v Kumstat match stats
The 17-year-old defeated the Czech Republic’s Jan Kumstat 3-6 7-6(2) 7-5 on Saturday at Rod Laver Arena, becoming the first Japanese player to win an AO junior singles title.
To celebrate championship point, the right-hander dropped to one knee and used his racquet to mimic drawing a sword, later explaining that it means “samurai”, which is Japanese for warrior.
MORE: AO 2024 boys' singles draw
He repeated the motion, which he said he adopted about six months ago, after switching his cap for the leather Akubra he was awarded for winning a tournament last week in Traralgon.
“I'm really happy to win this tournament,” said Sakamoto.
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Two-time AO women’s singles champion Naomi Osaka and four-time AO men’s singles quarterfinalist Kei Nishikori showed Sakamato what’s possible, he said.
“Naomi Osaka, Kei Nishikori inspire[d] me a lot, they let me have like a big dream,” he said.
Though he hasn’t met Osaka, the 17-year-old has practiced with Nishikori. Both Sakamoto and Nishikori received funding from the Masaaki Morita Tennis Fund for their development at IMG Academy.
With encouragement from his parents, Sakamoto said he began playing tennis aged six in Nagoya.
“When I grabbed a racquet first time I felt, like, I was born for playing tennis,” he said, adding that it was a Yonex EZONE.
He’s the second player from his nation to win a Grand Slam junior singles title after Shintaro Mochizuki won the boys’ singles at Wimbledon in 2019.
Sakamoto struck just six aces to Kumstat’s 25 during the high-quality contest that featured a combined 81 winners and lasted two hours and 11 minutes.
It’s by far Sakamoto's best performance at a major, following third-round appearances at the AO, Wimbledon and US Open last year. Sakamoto is on a 12-match winning streak following his performances in Melbourne and in Traralgon, and said he plans to make a transition to the men’s tour this year.
With the victory, Sakamoto denied Kumstat, who was aiming to become the second Czech player to win an AO boys’ singles title since Jiri Vesely in 2011.