By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, August 28, 2020
In walking away from the Western & Southern Open semifinals Wednesday night, Naomi Osaka aimed to start a dialogue about racial injustice.
In her semifinal return today, Osaka confronted a series of questions.
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How would she refocus on tennis after sparking the game's governing bodies to unify behind her and postpone Thursday's scheduled semifinals to today?
Could the fourth-seeded Japanese tame her suddenly unruly service toss and quiet the comeback of US Open doubles champion Elise Mertens?
Ultimately, Osaka withstood the turbulence—and an apparent hamstring issue—with tenacity topping the tricky Mertens 6-2, 7-6(5) to reach her first final of this Coronavirus-shortened season.
Osaka showed the same steely will staring down break-point pressure as she did during her run to the 2018 US Open title saving 18 of 21 break points, including denying 12 of 14 break points in the second set.
"Preparing for this match today was a bit stressful, but I'm really glad I was able to close it out," Osaka told ESPN's Chris McKendry. "Definitely, my service games I felt were tougher than normal. Yeah, I'm glad I was able to save 18 of them."
A day after tennis pressed pause, champions showed strong resilience.
A resurgent Victoria Azarenka reeled off five games in a row sealing a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 conquest of ninth-seeded Johanna Konta.
It is Azarenka's fifth straight win—the first time in four years she's won five in a row—and sends her into her first final since Monterrey in the spring of 2019.
Striking clean combinations Azarenka picked Konta apart over the final set in a victory tha will vault the world No. 59 back to the Top 40.
The 31-year-old Belarusian, who had not won a match in two prior tournaments this season, set up a blockbuster final of two-time Grand Slam champions vs. Osaka
The 2013 champion broke Konta, who had not dropped serve in the tournament, five times in the final two sets.
Azarenka closed in style cracking an ace off the sideline, flipping her racquet in the air and breaking into a satisfied smile after hammering 26 winners against 12 unforced errors.
Both Azarenka and Osaka have come through compelling weeks with the 2018 US Open champion using her platform to protest social injustice and galvanizing the game's governing bodies to follow her lead.
Stepping on court, Osaka knew taking a stand with a powerful statement—"Watching the continued genocide of black people at the hands of police is honestly making me sick to my stomach," Osaka posted on Twitter in announcing her initial withdrawal before the semis were rescheduled—would make this one of the most unique matches she's played.
“For me, this is very different from any semis I’ve ever played,” Osaka told ESPN’s Rennae Stubbs before stepping out on court to play the semifinal. “Definitely the emotions are very different, but I hope that when I step out on the court that all my focus is on the tennis ball.”
Initially, Osaka succeeded in that single-minded approach. Eventually her erratic toss provoked complications.
The fourth-seeded Osaka jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Belgian held at 15 to get on the scoreboard in the fourth game.
The 14th-seeded Mertens, who made the Prague final on red clay earlier this month before bowing to Simona Halep, is skilled applying her feel to create sharp angles and unsettle opponents.
Of course, Mertens faced a mental adjustment of her own as there was brief speculation on Wednesday night she might get a walkover into the final after Osaka announced she was opting out. Mertens said she wanted to face Osaka to gauge her level of play before she meets Laura Siegemund in her US Open opener next week.
"Well, of course there was some tweet on Twitter, but just moments later we got a note from WTA that they are going to postpone the matches and do it the next day," Mertens said. "So, no, I was not surprised or I was not really thinking about a walkover.
"So I'm actually happy that she played, because, you know, I can see where my level is at against her, and even more important is the tournament that's coming, the US Open. I totally respected her decision. I think it's great what she does, and she's a role model for tennis. So totally accepted."
The depth of Osaka’s drives came back on the Belgian so fast she had little time to create. Osaka banged a biting return right back at the feet coaxing another error for her second break and a 5-1 lead.
Though Osaka sometimes struggled to pinpoint her toss and caught a few of her errant tosses, she was dialed in on her return game.
The two-time Grand Slam champion broke in three of the Belgian’s first four service games cruising through the 41-minute opener with Mertens managing to win just two points on second serve in the set.
The wild card broke for the third time in a row building a 2-0 second-set lead before Mertens spun her two-hander off the sideline breaking back in the third game. Soon, Mertens was finding her range and varying her depth running off four straight games to go up 4-2.
Ninety-minutes into the match, Osaka battled her errant toss, Mertens’ counterstrikes and nerves in a 26-point game that spanned 15 minutes and saw the 2018 US Open champion withstand several break points holding for 5-4.
Credit Mertens for displaying a cool head and soft hands carving a delicate volley to deny match point in the 12th game. Mertens slashed a serve down the middle to force the tiebreaker.
Early in the breaker, Osaka was tugging on her left hamstring and pacing a bit more methodically between points. Perhaps it sparked urgency as Osaka stroked a clean winner for 3-2 only to see Mertens flick a forehand winner down the line to level.
As the tension escalated the quality of play spiked again. Both women were guarding the baseline when Osaka outgunned Mertens in a crackling exchange evening at 5-all.
On her second match point, Osaka closed when Mertens poked a backhand return long ending a two-hour test.
Poise under pressure after an eventful 48 hours helped Osaka battle through to her eighth career final.
Osaka has won two of three meetings with Azarenka, including a three-set triumph in their last encounter at the 2019 Roland Garros. She'll face a more confident Azarenka, while confronting questions over her toss and her leg, in tomorrow's final.