Naomi Osaka booked her spot in the semi-finals of the Australian Open after beating Hsieh Su Wei of Chinese Tapei 6-2, 6-2 in a mere 66 minutes on court. Osaka finished the match with 24 winners while Hsieh hit 23 unforced errors.
A tough start for Osaka
The number three seed didn’t get off to the best start as she faced pressure in the opening service game of the match with Hsieh earning a breakpoint that Osaka saved with a quick ace.
There wasn’t another breakpoint until 2-1 when it was the Japanese sensation earning three thanks to a series of mistakes from Hsieh. She would save all three before being faced with a fourth and Osaka would break with a brilliant forehand winner to take the 3-1 lead.
The break seemed to calm Osaka down as she started to put the pressure on her opponent and she had another breakpoint to increase her lead but it was quickly saved by Hsieh.
At 5-2 with Hsieh serving to stay in the set the number three seed put more pressure on her earning three set points and would break as Hseih return would go wide and Osaka took the first set 6-2.
Osaka finishes strong
After holding her opening service game she earned a breakpoint off a return winner and would get the break as Hsieh forehand once again went long for the early 1-0 lead.
It stayed on serve until 5-2 when Hseih was serving to stay in the match and faced two match points which she was able to save with two great forehand winners.
The number three seed would set up a third match point with a forehand winner of her own and win the match on the very next point taking it 6-2, and 6-2 in 1 hour and six minutes.
After her match she gave credit to her opponent who had an amazing tournament pulling off some amazing upsets.
“Ya I’m really happy, I’m really happy with how I played too, everytime I player her it’s always such a battle even with the score it was another battle for me
Osaka will either face Serena Williams or Simona Halep in the semi finals and that match is slated for the first match of the night session on Rod Laver. Osaka has a 2-1 record vs Williams while she has a losing record of 1-4 to Halep.
