Naomi Osaka delivered one of the most imperious performances of her career to reach the Omnium Banque Nationale quarterfinals, racing past Anastasija Sevastova 6-1, 6-0 in just 49 minutes.
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That’s the second-quickest completed tour-level win of her career, following her 42-minute 6-1, 6-1 rout of Ana Sofia Sánchez in the first round of Florianopolis 2016. It’s also the first time Osaka has conceded just one game or fewer in a completed match since she defeated Danielle Collins 6-1, 6-0 in the second round of Beijing 2018.
The former World No. 1 advances to the last eight of a WTA 1000 or Grand Slam tournament for the first time in 19 months, since Doha 2024. It is the second time she has made the quarterfinals at the Canadian WTA 1000 event, following her run to the last eight of Toronto 2019. She will next face either No. 5 seed Amanda Anisimova or No. 10 seed Elina Svitolina as she bids to reach her first WTA 1000 (or higher) semifinal since Miami 2022.
In a match that began in windy conditions, Osaka’s controlled aggression was dominant in every facet of the game against an opponent who had historically been a tricky matchup. Though Osaka had won her two most recent meetings with Sevastova, both in 2019, she had needed three sets both times. The Latvian had won the two before that in 2018.
In the pair’s first meeting as mothers, Osaka won more than double her opponent’s points, 53 to 21, and converted all five of her break points. She landed 13 winners, including five aces, to Sevastova’s one.
No. 386-ranked Sevastova, who had battled through a trio of three-setters to reach this stage, struggled to get going in the wind. She opened the match by netting her signature drop shot, and committed the same error to squander a break-back point down 3-1 and then also down set point. Two of her five double faults came when facing break point.
“I had a solid plan coming in here, and it happened to work out very well,” Osaka said in her on-court interview.
AloJapan.com