Tokyo: Japan’s World No. 4 women’s singles player Nozomi Okuhara who ultimately clinching the 2020 Denmark Open after finishing runner-up the previous six times since winning the 2018 Hong Kong Open, did not drop a single game in five matches en route to the title at the BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament.
Former Japanese women’s doubles player, Kimiko Jinnai, who was a commentator and also competed in Barcelona Olympics with Hisako Mori, saw a solid improvement for Okuhara on the court.
“I thought it was amazing that Okuhara didn’t show any painful facial expression after a very intense rally. She seemed to able to restore her heartbeat to the normal state in just a few seconds. She then moved on to start the next serve without a problem. Her fitness was so strong that she could handle many intense rallies,” said Jinnai.
“Okuhara has strengthened her muscles during the seven-month shut down due to the COVID-19 crisis, and she could attack Marin’s left and right baseline very easily. Her speed has also become a great weapon in the final,” continued Jinnai.
“The reason why Marin made a lot of mistakes was because of Okuhara’s better and faster footwork. Marin would need to attack faster and harder, that has exhausted mental effort and concentration for the Spanish player,” added Jinnai.
Okuhara took home prize money USD $52,500 as the women’s singles champion.
