It's always a big privilege and an honor to play Serena Williams: Osaka
Naomi Osaka could have faced Serena Williams in the Australian Open semi-finals, but the American wasted four match points against Karolina Pliskova. Commenting on how that matchup would have been, Osaka said: 'I can't speak for her, but for me, it's always a really big privilege and an honor to play her. For me, I have been watching her since I have grown up. Honestly, I feel very lucky I've gotten to play her twice already. If I do play her, I'm just going to be looking forward to it.'
On her win over Elina Svitolina, Osaka added: 'Everyone knows my backhand was a little bit inconsistent in the first set. I think I was making too many unforced errors on the serve. Like, her serve. Like, service return. So, yeah, in the second set I just tried to play more and see if she's gonna hit winners or not.'
On Pliskova, Osaka said: 'I have played her a couple times already. She's really tough to play. Like, I can barely read her serve, so it's very difficult for me. Like, I see now that she doesn't hit too many unforced errors, which is a little bit dangerous. But definitely if I play her, too, I'm looking forward to it, because she also – I have never really seen her get angry, and I think that would be a really good match to watch. Honestly, it's been a good draw for me to come up like this and get used to players that hit with more consistency and don't make as many unforced errors.'
Osaka defeated Pliskova in three sets 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in their semi-final. She will take on Petra Kvitova in the final for the title.
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2WkGVuR
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