Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka on Tuesday reached the semi-finals of the Canadian Open for the first time after beating Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-2 in the quarter-finals, while Ben Shelton eliminated Alex de Minaur on the men’s side.
It marks Osaka’s first WTA 1000 semi-final since Miami in 2022, as the Japanese former world No. 1 needed just over an hour to secure victory over 10th seed Svitolina.
Osaka capitalized on Svitolina’s unforced errors to break twice and move within a game of taking the first set. Despite dropping serve while Svitolina threatened to shift the momentum, Osaka held her nerve, broke back and closed out the opener.
Photo: AP
The second set was more closely contested, but Osaka converted two more break points to seal the win in Montreal.
The 27-year-old next faces Danish 16th seed Clara Tauson, who secured her second consecutive win over a top-10 opponent by defeating sixth seed Madison Keys of the US 6-1, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals having previously beaten six-time major winner Iga Swiatek.
“I think for me, I’m just having a lot of fun playing and I’m really glad to be here,” Osaka said. “She’s [Tauson] really tough. I played her in Auckland this year and I had to stop halfway because I was injured. So I’m really excited that I’m healthy, and I hope that it’s a good match for everyone that comes and watches.”
Photo: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Tauson was clinical in the opening set against Keys, converting both of her break-point opportunities and serving it out in just over half an hour.
Australian Open champion Keys dropped serve again early in the second set, leaving the 22-year-old Tauson on course for just the second WTA 1000 semi-final of her career.
In the men’s singles in Toronto, second seed Taylor Fritz of the US advanced to the semi-finals with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Russian sixth seed Andrey Rublev.
Wimbledon semi-finalist Fritz got off to a blistering start, winning six straight points and breaking his opponent’s serve in his first return game.
The 27-year-old maintained his momentum behind a dominant service performance and appeared poised to close out the match while serving at 5-4 in the second set, but Rublev mounted a comeback, saving a match point and converting his fourth break point to level the set, before forcing a tiebreak, in which Fritz finally secured the win.
“That whole game was so shaky for me,” Fritz said. “It’s weird because he was holding easy, I was holding easy. It felt so like calm and chill, and all of a sudden I’m serving to be in the semis, the pressure of the game came out of nowhere.”
“There’s no way to sugarcoat it, it was a tight game. My brain kind of turned off. The only thing you can do is come back and win the set. I would be a lot more upset about what happened in the game if I lose the match. Winning makes it feel not as bad,” he said.
Next up for Fritz is compatriot and fourth seed Shelton, who beat Australian ninth seed De Minaur 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first career Masters 1000 semi-final.
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