WTA Cincinnati: Naomi Osaka after defeating Elise Mertens in the final
Naomi Osaka is in the final of the Western & Southern Open after a rock solid performance. The Japanese defeated Elise Mertens in two sets with 6: 2 and 7: 6 (5). In this she meets the winner of the duel between Johanna Konta and Victoria Azarenka.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Aug 28, 2020, 07:19 pm
It actually looked as if Elise Mertens would move into the final of the WTA Premier Five event in Cincinnati without a fight. Your opponent, Naomi Osaka, announced yesterday, Thursday, that as a sign against racism, she would not play her semi-final game. A decision that, in addition to many positive comments, also received some criticism.
After a discussion with the organizers and the joint decision to suspend all game operations on yesterday and not start again until Friday, Osaka was also ready to start their game in the semi-finals of the tournament. And the Japanese did this with enormous vigor, Osaka broke her opponent for the first time in the second game of the match, quickly taking a 5-1 lead. In the end, Mertens should break a 5: 2 break, but Osaka secured the first round 6: 2.
Contested second set
The Japanese also started the second set brilliantly, Osaka made the early break again and quickly pulled away 2-0. This time, however, her Belgian opponent had the right answer to the early break, managed to take the serve from the Japanese twice and pulled away 4-2. But now it was Naomi Osaka's turn again with this back and forth, managed the rebreak and a little later left with her own serve and an enormously contested game - Osaka fended off a total of eight breakballs - 5: 4 in front.
Naomi Osaka was able to take this momentum with her and immediately put a lot of pressure on the Belgian in the following service game. This time Mertens was able to pull his head out of the noose, but with a score of 6: 5 from Osaka's point of view, there was the first match point for the world number 10. Again, however, her Belgian opponent managed to deal with this pressure situation - a tiebreak had to bring the decision.
Here Elise Mertens made the first mini-break to 5: 4, but had to accept two mini-breaks herself - Osaka now had match point on his own serve. With a service winner, the Japanese exploited this and celebrated her entry into the final. In this Osaka will now meet the winner of the duel between Victoria Azarenka and Johanna Konta.