Boom Town: Osaka Battles Into First Semifinal of Season in Washington, DC

By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, July 31, 2026
Photo credit: Mubadala DC Open

Wearing cherry blossoms on her pink dress, Naomi Osaka brought the boom and bloom to Rock Creek Park today.

Osaka broke twice in the final set rallying past Elisabetta Cocciaretto 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to battle into her first semifinal of the season at the Mubadala DC Open.

Former world No. 1 Osaka reached her first semifinal since the 2025 US Open when she fell to Amanda Anisimova.

“I feel like it was tough. Overall this match was really tough, and it felt more like a mental match than an actual tennis match,” Osaka said. “I don’t feel like I played that well, but it was more,
like, fighting through every point.

“I think what she did well today was — I guess she was really inside of the court on my second serve, so I did feel a little bit of pressure, but it’s not like she smacked the ball every time. So I’d say she was pretty, like, solid, yeah.”

Earlier, top-seeded Jessica Pegula powered past Anna Kalinskaya, 6-3, 7-5, in the day’s first quarterfinal.

The 2019 champion Pegula improved to 5-1 against Kalinskaya and will play either fourth-seeded Diana Schnaider or hard-hitting Liudmila Samsonova for a placed in the final.

It is the 23rd career semifinal for Osaka, who continues her quest for an eighth career title this weekend.

The third-seeded Osaka will play 21-year-old Filipina phenom Alexandra Eala for a spot in Sunday’s final. Eala stopped second-seeded Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-4, in a victory that vaults her to a new career-high ranking of No. 25 in the WTA Live Rankings.

“I mean, I’ve never played Alex before, but obviously I’ve seen some of her matches,” Osaka said. “You know, she’s had an incredible year so far.

“Honestly, playing her I think would be really fun for me, just to, like, get that knowledge about how she plays.”

Two-time US Open champion Osaka sprayed 18 unforced errors in the opening set, but showed a bit more restraint and targeted aggression as the match progressed. Osaka continued to pound the Italian’s forehand wing inciting her comeback.

Afterward, Osaka said an early wake-up call from her daughter drained her energy level a bit at the start.

“Honestly, I’m not too sure. From my end, I had a low energy. I kept trying to pump myself up,” Osaka told Tennis Channel’s Brett Haber afterward. “In the second, I just wanted to give it my best shot.

“I wake up when my daughter wakes up and she wakes up quite early. I really should sleep in. But once she bursts in the door and she’s like: Good morning Mommy.”

Spraying successive forehands, Osaka gift-wrapped the break and a 4-3 lead to the Italian.

Amid sweltering 88-degree conditions, a fan fell ill in the stands. Play was suspended for about seven minutes as staffers helped the ailing fan.

Osaka consulted coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, who seemed to be signalling for her to use a little more shape on her shots.

When play resumed, Cocciaretto drained errors from the Japanese. Osaka badly missed a down the line drive to end a 42-minute opener that saw the former No. 1 commit 18 unforced errors.

While Cocciaretto wasn’t hitting the ball as hard, she was often hitting it earlier, playing sharper angles.

Playing points with a bit more patience, Osaka cleaned up her act, cut down on the unforced errors and rolled to a 3-0 second-set lead.

Serving in the seventh game, Osaka delved into self-sabotage. Two double faults, an unforced error and a jammed error of a Cocciaretto return and Osaka dropped serve, bounced her Yonex racquet and kicked the stick toward the side wall.

Cooling down with a fan on the changeover, Cocciaretto was back on serve at 3-4. 

Digging in, Osaka navigated a tough ninth game holding for 5-4. 

A jittery Cocciaretto missed a forehand and clanked her sixth double fault as Osaka converted set point No. 2 to force a third set after 87 steamy minutes of play.

Following about a 10-minute clothing break change, the pair returned to action.

Hammering heavy drives that pushed the Italian behind the baseline and forced her to counter off the back foot, Osaka break at love for 4-2. 

Jamming a jarring serve down the T, Osaka confirmed the break for 5-2. Osaka closed in two hours, 11 minutes to improve to 22-8 on the season.