ASB Classic: Osaka makes it to first WTA semifinal in almost three years
Seals 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2 victory over Hailey Baptiste in quarterfinal at the ASB Classic in Auckland
Auckland: Former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka moved into her first WTA semifinal in nearly three years after a 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal victory over Hailey Baptiste at the ASB Classic on Friday.
Osaka survived two brief rain interruptions during the match before closing out rising American Baptiste after 2 hours and 2 minutes of play.
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The Japanese sailed into her first tour-level semifinal since she returned from maternity leave 12 months ago. The last time she made the final four or better at a WTA event was her runner-up finish at 2022 Miami, where she lost to Iga Swiatek. She made two quarterfinals last year (Doha and ‘s-Hertogenbosch).
“I think the key focuses that I had were just to have a lot of belief and confidence in myself. I think I put a lot of work in throughout last year, and even though the results didn’t show it, I think I’m just continuing to, I guess, try as hard as I can and see where it gets me,” Osaka said on court after her win.
Osaka was forced to pull off a comeback to hold off 23-year-old Baptiste, who was playing her first career WTA quarterfinal.
“Baptiste is an amazing player. It sucks that she was injured, but I think we played a really high-quality match, and in a weird way I’m glad to have played a three-set match because I think that’s kind of the experience I need,” Osaka said.
Both players had 10 unforced errors in the first set, but Baptiste had 17 winners to Osaka’s five in that timeframe, including an ace to convert a set point in the tiebreak, according to WTA.
