Naomi Osaka victorious over Elise Mertens 6-2 7-65 in the semifinal in New York on Friday. Osaka will seek to keep on going in this event against Victoria Azarenka in the final.

Score, report, and key facts

Osaka was in a great position at the beginning of the set to break Mertens in the 2nd game (2-0) before consolidating her break and lead 3-0. Anyhow, the set was not over yet and there was more work to do for the Japanese to win the set since Elise managed to break back in the 7th (2-5) game. The Japanese kept her cool to break the Belgian in the 8th (6-2) game.

Osaka failed to serve out the set when leading 5-1 to be broken at 40.

Naomi converted 60% of her break points (3/5). She had 5 break points opportunities in the 2nd (1-0 15-40 and 30-40), the 6th (4-1 30-40) and the 8th game (5-2 15-40 and 30-40). In addition on the other side, Elise converted 14% of her break points (1/7). She had her opportunities in the 3rd (0-2 15-40, 30-40 and 40-A) and the 7th game (1-5 0-40, 15-40, 30-40 and 40-A).

They played 58 points. Naomi was the winner of the set after clinching 8 points more than the Belgian (33-25). Osaka lost 15 points on serve (20-15). on the other side of the court, the Belgian conceded 13 points on serve (10-13).

Osaka had a great start in this set after breaking Mertens in the 2nd game (2-0). However, there was more work to do for Naomi to win the set as the Belgian found the way to break back in the 3rd (1-2) and in the 5th (3-2) game. Osaka maintained her focus before winning the set at the tiebreak at 5.

Nonetheless also Elise won 4 consecutive games from 0-2 to 4-2

Tiebreak

The Japanese won 3 minibreaks in the 10th (5-5), 11th (6-5) and 12th (7-5) point. On the other side, the Belgian won a minibreak in the 9th (5-4) point.

This was the tiebreak sequence: 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 3-3, 3-4, 4-4, 4-5, 5-5, 6-5, 7-c

Osaka converted 50% of her break points (2/4). She had 4 break points opportunities in the 2nd (1-0 30-40), the 8th (3-4 15-40 and 30-40) and the 12th game (6-5 30-40). Osaka saved 1 set point when she was trailing 4-5. Moreover, on the other side, the Belgian converted 14% of her break points (2/14). She had her opportunities in the 1st (0-0 15-40, 30-40 and 40-A), the 3rd (0-2 30-40), the 4th (2-2 30-40 and 40-A) and the 9th game (4-4 0-40, 15-40, 30-40, 40-A, 40-A, 40-A, 40-A and 40-A).

They contested 113 points. It’s worth to point out that, Osaka won this set even if she scored less points 1 than Elise (56-57

). Osaka surrendered 31 points on serve (38-31). On the losing side, the Belgian conceded 18 points on serve (26-18).

Osaka will add to her prize money $ 77,999 after conquering this match. She has won already $ 152,999 after this win. If she wins the next match, Osaka will add $ -152,999 to her earnings to earn $ 0 in total.

Match Statistics

Osaka
Mertens
6-2 7-65
89
89
Total points
82
82
37
37
Winners
29
29
42%
42%
Ratio Winners
35%
35%
-- Serve --
4
4
Aces
3
3
5
5
Double Faults
3
3
50%
50%
1st in
64%
64%
71%
71%
1st won
69%
69%
37/52
37/52
1st won
29/42
29/42
42%
42%
2nd won
29%
29%
22/53
22/53
2nd won
7/24
7/24
-- Break Points --
5/9
5/9
Total
3/21
3/21
56%
56%
Won
14%
14%
See Full Stats

At the end of the match, Osaka scored 89 points vs. Mertens’s 82.

Naomi was effective at converting 56% of the break points that she procured (5/9). On the other side, Mertens was not so effective in converting her break points (only 14% – 3/21). That was one of the key issues for her demise.

After this match, the head to head between Osaka and Mertens is 2-1 for Naomi.

Highlights Naomi Osaka vs. Elise Mertens Western & Southern Open – New York

Osaka’s Interview

Draw and next match H2H: Naomi Osaka vs. Victoria Azarenka – stats

Osaka will square off with Azarenka in the final.

This will be the 4th time that Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka square off. The head to head is 2-1 for Osaka (see full H2H stats), but Azarenka leads 1-0 on hard.

The last time that they competed against each other, Osaka won 4-6 7-5 6-3 in the 2nd round in Paris back in 2019.

Tennis Scores in New York

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