2020 US Open: Naomi Osaka downs Anett Kontaveit in super showing, reaches QF

Fourth seed Naomi Osaka made it to the quarter-finals of the 2020 US Open. Playing the last match of Sunday’s evening session on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Osaka won 6-3, 6-4 against the 14th seed Anett Kontaveit.

The 2018 US Open champion started off on an impressive note, breaking the Estonian’s serve in the first game of the opening set. That break – and Osaka’s game – looked ominous even as it set the tone for the rest of the match.

Throughout the course of the match, Osaka’s visage was imperious and she did not let Kontaveit – with whom she had gone toe-to-toe a couple of weeks ago, at the Western & Southern Open – breathe easy for a single moment across the course of the 72-minute encounter. The opening set featured two breaks in total, the second proving decisive for Osaka to take the lead in the match, after Kontaveit lost her serve in the ninth game of the set.

The second set proceeded on serve up to the 10th game when Kontaveit serving to stay in the match, lost her serve for one last time allowing the Japanese to take her place in the last-eight of the women’s singles draw.

Osaka hit 21 winners to Kontaveit’s 16 and finished with 18 unforced errors to her opponent’s 22. The former world no. 1 finished the match with 68 points to Kontaveit’s 52. Osaka did not face a single break point in the match.

Naomi Osaka's second US Open quarter-final in three years

Post-match, in her on-court interaction, “I thought it was pretty good. If I'm reflecting on attitude, I'm pretty sure it was up there with my top matches of this short year.”

Then, analysing her performance, she added, “It's quite easy to get down on yourself, especially when you feel like you could have already converted so many opportunities, but I just told myself that she's a great player who's supposed to hold her serve, so just to keep pushing.”

This is the second time in her career that Naomi Osaka has reached the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows. The last time she did so, in 2018, she won the tournament (d. Serena Williams). She will take on American Shelby Rogers for a chance to reach the semi-finals.

Photo Credit: Simon Bruty/USTA

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3bwJQIZ