No.7 seed Naomi Osaka is into her first WTA semifinal in nearly three years after a 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal victory over Hailey Baptiste at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday.
Former World No.1 Osaka needed to survive two brief rain interruptions during the match before closing out rising American Baptiste after 2 hours and 2 minutes of play.
“I think the key focuses that I had were just to have a lot of belief and confidence in myself,” Osaka said on court after her win. “I think I put a lot of work in throughout last year, and even though the results didn’t show it, I think I’m just continuing to, I guess, try as hard as I can and see where it gets me.”
Osaka will face either Katie Volynets or Alycia Parks in the semifinals. Their match was canceled due to rain. The other semifinal will see 20-year-old American Robin Montgomery face either top seed Madison Keys or Denmark’s Clara Tauson. The Dane led Keys 6-4, 3-4 before rain suspended play.
Here are some more key numbers from the four-time Grand Slam champion’s win:
2022: Osaka is into her first tour-level semifinal since she returned from maternity leave 12 months ago. The last time Osaka made the final four or better at a WTA event was her runner-up finish at 2022 Miami (losing that final to Iga Swiatek). She made two quarterfinals last year (Doha and ‘s-Hertogenbosch).