Western e Southern Open: Naomi Osaka e Victoria Azarenka set final showdown

Victoria Azarenka and Naomi Osaka will play for the Western & Southern Open title on Saturday after winning their respective semi-finals on Friday.

Azarenka, the two-time former Australian Open champion, upset Johanna Konta 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the first semi-final of the day. The match started on a promising note for the eighth-seeded Briton who went up by a set but Azarenka clawed her way back into the match from the second set onwards.

She was the first player to break Konta’s serve this week and although she was broken right after, a second break of serve in the second set helped her equalise the match before ending it decisively in the one-sided third set, after two hours and 18 minutes of play.

“I think it was a really good, high quality match overall. I think Johanna played really, really well. Especially in the first set, she was really taking a lot of chances, and some of the opportunities that I had I didn't maybe go enough for them. But she was really, really strong,” Azarenka shared in her post-match media interaction.

“I felt that in the second set I was able to manage those opportunities better, step up a little bit. And then in the third set I felt like I was more, you know, in my pace and doing what I wanted to do, so I felt more comfortable.”

This is Azarenka’s first final since the 2019 Monterrey Open and she shares this similarity with Osaka, who is also making her first trip to the finals this season.

Western & Southern Open: Naomi Osaka trips Elise Mertens in the SF

The former world no. 1 needed two hours and a minute to beat 14th seed Elise Mertens 6-2, 7-6(5). In addition, Osaka also survived a second-set slump before picking up her game and finishing the match in straight sets.

After the match, speaking with the press, Osaka said, “I'm really glad that I'm playing this tournament right now, because just having these match plays and being able to figure things out on the court is going to be really helpful. This is my first tournament back from quarantine. So, I'm happy that I'm in the finals.”

Their final at the Western & Southern Open will be the fourth face-off between Osaka and Azarenka. Of their last three matches, the Japanese won their recent two meetings, at the 2018 Rome Open and 2019 French Open, while the Belarusian won their first match back at the 2016 Australian Open.

Photo Credit: W&S Open

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2YMi5H1