Western e Southern Open: Naomi Osaka reaches semi-finals, to play Elise Mertens

Fourth seed Naomi Osaka came from a set down to move past Anett Kontaveit in their last-eight clash at the Western & Southern Open on Wednesday. The world no. 10 won 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, seven minutes shy of the two-hour mark to reach her second semi-final of the season (after the Brisbane International in January).

The 12th seed from Estonia looked dialled into the match even as Osaka looked woebegone at the other end. However, the former world no. 1 took back control over the match and played her heart out – proverbially, speaking – to make it to the semi-finals.

Post-match, Osaka shared how having a positive mentality helped her. “For me this entire week I have just been speaking about trying to be more positive. So, I think just for the first set and honestly a couple of games in the second I was just really being down on myself and super negative. For me… if I had to lose a match, I didn't want to lose a match on that note. I just tried to be more positive and pump myself up,” she said.

She, then, added, “I just gave myself a lot of excuses. Then I became very down on myself whenever I would miss balls that I thought I shouldn't miss, but then I'm not putting in the effort to correct myself.  So that was the direction I was heading in the first set and like the beginning of the second set. And then just to correct myself, I just began thinking of all my regrets, and I have never regretted a match where I have tried my best and lost.”

Tennis and Western & Southern Open see another stoppage in play

Fourteenth seed Elise Mertens was to be Osaka’s opponent in the penultimate round. The Belgian stopped the run of Jessica Pegula 6-3, 6-1 in their quarter-final match. However, latter-day events have left her participation in the event quite uncertain.

Standing in solidarity with her colleagues from other sports, Osaka took the bold – and unexpected – step of announcing that she would not play her semi-final on Thursday as a mark of protest against racism after the recent shooting of an African-American person.

The Western & Southern Open, along with the ATP and WTA, later announced that all of Thursday’s matches were cancelled and would be rescheduled. At this point, it is unknown whether Osaka will put out of the event entirely or play her semi-final following the brief pause.

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