Naomi Osaka is a win away from reaching her first WTA 1000 final since 2022 after brushing aside Elina Svitolina in straight sets at the Canadian Open.
The four-time Grand Slam champion cruised to a 6-2, 6-2, win over her Ukrainian rival in just over an hour, saving four out of five break points faced and winning 82% of her first service points. Osaka is the first player representing Japan to reach the last four of the tournament since 1994, when Kimiko Date Krumm achieved the same feat, and is only the third to do so overall.
Osaka’s surge in form coincides with her new partnership with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, who has previously worked with Iga Swiatek and Agnieszka Radwanska. Whilst it is still early stages for the duo, in their first tournament together, Osaka has won five WTA-level matches in a row, which is something she last achieved three years ago.
“I’m really happy. I’m also really excited. It’s kind of interesting because after Wimbledon, I was really disappointed. Then I just kind of let go of my expectations, and now we’re here. So I find it kind of ironic, but I’m happy about it,” Osaka said of her latest win over Svitolina.
“I never really care about the stats of the person I’m playing. I know that everyone is really tough. I played her a couple of times before, and I know that she’s one of the best fighters on tour, so I was just expecting a tough match.”
Osaka, who has held the No.1 ranking for 21 weeks during her career, has won two WTA 1000 events during her career but the most recent of those was in 2019. Besides Svitolina, she has also scored wins over Ariana Arseneault, Liudmila Samsonova, Jelena Ostapenko and Anastasija Sevastova in Canada.
Awaiting her in the last four will be Denmark’s Clara Tacson, who has already beaten two top 10 players in the tournament. Her latest victory was over Australian Open champion Madison Keys, whom she swept aside 6-1, 6-4. The world No.19 dedicated her latest win to her grandfather, who passed away just two days earlier.
“He was a big supporter of my career. He used to coach me a little bit playing tennis and drove me to almost every single practice from my school,” said Tauson.
“It was tough news yesterday morning when I woke up, but I think it’s for the better. He was not feeling great for a while. But it’s always tough.”
Osaka has faced Tauson once on the Tour before at the ASB Classic earlier this year in New Zealand, but she retired from that match due to injury.
“I remember feeling like she was a little unconventional. I don’t remember why exactly I felt that way, but I think she had a really interesting game,” Osaka commented.
“I did watch her play Keys a little bit, but I was, like, warming up and stuff. I’ll be curious to see what happens.”
In the other section of the draw, rising star Victoria Mboko will play Elena Rybakina for a place in the final.
AloJapan.com