US Open champion Naomi Osaka is a win away from claiming her second WTA title in a row after easing past Italy’s Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-3, at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
The 20-year-old produced another impressive display against the world No.37 at the Arena Tachikawa Tachihi. Osaka dropped only six points behind her first serve and two being her second as she didn’t face a single break point throughout the match. A sharp contrast to Wimbledon quarter-finalist Giorgi, who was broken four times and managed to win just 37% (11/30) behind her second serve.
“The way that she plays, if she’s on, it would have been almost impossible to beat her,” Osaka assessed after the match, according to wtatennis.com. “I know that she has those matches, and the only thing that I could do is play as well as I can and hope for the best.
“I knew that once I hit any short ball or any ball without that much speed, she was going to try to go for it. I think that we have two completely different games, and mine just happened to win today.”
Osaka is now on a 10-match winning streak following her maiden grand slam triumph at Flushing Meadows. At this year’s Tokyo tournament, she is yet to drop a set. In her first three matches, the world No.7 has only lost her serve once, which was against Barborya Strycova in the quarter-finals on Friday.
“I think [my serve] got me out of a lot of trouble today,” Osaka commented about her latest win. “She was playing well, and I served well. I really wanted to get to the final.”
On Sunday Osaka will be bidding for her third title of the season against Karolina Pliskova. The Czech fourth seed experienced a much tougher route into the final. Fighting her way past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. Pliskova initially had a set and 3-1 advantage, before her opponent rallied back to draw level in the match. Despite the blip, the 26-year-old prevailed in the decider by breaking Vekic twice.
“It was another long one today!” Pliskova assessed during her on-court interview. “I feel like I’m improving in every match, but the opponents are always more tough. That’s normal in semifinals – there’s no easy opponents.
“I think Donna was playing well and she’s beaten a lot of tough players this tournament. I was expecting a tough one. For a while it was looking like it maybe could be under two hours, but not really.”
The upcoming clash will be the second meeting between the two players this year. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Osaka clinched a straight sets win. Should she triumph once more on Sunday, she would become the first Japanese player to win the Tokyo tournament since Kimiko Date in 1995.
