Naomi Osaka did it!
The Japanese sensation reaches her back to back slam final to confirm that at 21 years of age she is about to take over the tennis world on the women side.
The semifinal
Naomi had to face Karolina Pliskova in the semifinal that was coming from a dramatic match in the quarters against Serena Williams when the Czech managed to win after recovering from a 1-5 deficit in the decider and after saving 4 match points.
Osaka wasn’t scared at all with the challenge to immediately grab a 6-2 1-0 lead (1 break up). However, the Czech has a vast experience, and she managed to regroup and break back immediately (1-1) to put a constant pressure on the Japanese that folded in the 10th game in the second set to lose 6-4.
That was the moment when Naomi showed her new found maturity as she kept her frustration at bay, she regained her focus, and she managed to break Karolina at love in the 4th game (3-1) of the decider. After 4 consecutive holds from each side, things became tense in the 8th game when Naomi had to save 2 break points (15-40) and one soon after. That was the last hurdle for Naomi that eventually won the semifinal 6-2 4-6 6-4
in 1 hour and 53 minutes.Head to head Naomi Osaka vs. Petra Kvitova
Naomi will face Petra Kvitova for the Australian Open title and the world no.1 rank. Naomi and Petra have never played each other so far.
2ND CONSECUTIVE SLAM? |
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