By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, April 26, 2019
The blue Porsche parked behind the corner of court was gleaming as Naomi Osaka revved into rally gear.
Down 1-5 in the decider, Osaka was two points from elimination when she shifted into quiet intensity charging back for a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (4) win over Donna Vekic to reach her first Stuttgart semifinal.
More: Osaka on Overcoming Depression
It's an excruciating loss for Vekic, who twiced serve for her first win over a world No. 1.
It's an exhilarating comeback for Osaka, who stayed calm and continued to club ambitious drives down the line igniting her comeback.
"I feel like I try not to panic anymore," Osaka told the media in Stuttgart. "Because that takes up more energy and I don't have much energy to spare. I just try to think logically and see how I can solve the problem."
This wasn't a case of Vekic collapsing—though her forehand failed her at times when she served for the match—as much as it was Osaka elevating her play at crunch time conquering her sometime practice partner for the second time in as many meetings.
During a third-set coaching visit with coach Jermaine Jenkins, Osaka admitted she was orchestrating her own demise and resolved to clean up her act. She did exactly that overcoming the deficit with purpose and patience.
Afterward, Osaka said she was in no mood for an early departure.
"I just told myself I didn't want to have any regrets while I was here," Osaka said. "This is my third time playing and the last two times I lost in the first round so I wanted to, I don't know, have good memories."
The Australian Open champion continued to show a closer's conviction. Osaka raised her 2019 three-set record to 7-1 advancing to tomorrow's semifinals against either former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka or explosive Estonian Anett Kontaveit.
Earlier, Australian Open finalist Petra Kvitova overcome a sluggish start subduing Latvian Anastasija Sevastova, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, advancing to her fourth semifinal of the season.
"The first set I started really, really bad," Kvitova told the media in Stuttgart. "I don't remember that bad start for so many matches. So I didn't feel great. I was very slow and my arm wasn't moving at all and it was very difficult."
"She didn't miss anything and I missed everything. It was pretty quick, the first set but luckily I won two games so it wasn't bagel," Kvitova said. "Finally, I started well on the serve the first game kept me a little bit more calmer. I was telling myself to stay on the serve and whatever happened happened. Suddenly I won the second set, which was nice. In the third I had to fight and fight. I think she was playing a good game she was mixing it up a bit and she was moving really well so it was very difficult."
Initially, Osaka was in control vs. Vekic in today's second quarterfinal.
Vekic's baseline aggression poses a more straight-forward challenge than tricky two-hander Hsieh Su-Wei, whom Osaka defeated in her opener, avenging last month's three-set Miami Open loss.
Stepping in to take the ball on the rise at times, Osaka crunched her crosscourt forehand with damaging intent.
The top seed's skill taking time away from the Croatian helped her carve out the break in the sixth game. Slashing successive returns right back at Vekic's feet, Osaka drew a pair of rushed errors breaking for 4-2.
Serving for the set, Osaka zapped a pair of aces, punched a forehand behind Vekic for triple set point and closed one of her most commanding sets since the Australian Open on an errant backhand.
Point-ending power distinguished Osaka through the first set and a half. When she was stressed, she accelerated through her shots. Down 15-30, Osaka pumped an ace igniting a three-point surge to even the second set, 2-2.
Lifting her level and intensity, Vekic worked hard withstanding some forehand strikes from the US Open champion and answering with down the line drives of her own. Vekic hung tough hitting the body serve at times to grind through a 14-point game holding for 4-3.
Coach Torben Beltz came out on the changeover advising Vekic to "go a little bit back and also sometimes hit a little bit higher (return)" when returning first serve and step in closer to commbat the kick on the second serve.
Three games later, Vekic earned her first break points as set points as a suddenly sloppy Osaka sprayed a shot long to end a second set in which she was largely untested on serve until dropping serve in the final game.
Empowered by that break to end the second, Vekic broke again bursting out to a 3-0 lead in the third.
The accuracy Osaka showed for a set and a half was absent as Vekic began changing direction with confidence. The 22-year-old Croatian cranked out a second break building a 5-1 lead.
Serving for her first win over a world No. 1, Vekic saw Osaka blast a forehand return winner that helped her break. The shot sparked a run of seven straight points as the top seed crept closer at 3-5.
Serving for the match again, Vekic was two points from victory at 30-15 when she netted a forehand and swatted a forehand wide to fall into a double break point.
Wisely continuing to attack the Croatian's increasingly leaky forehand, Osaka hammered crosscourt forehands scoring her second straight break to get back on serve. Osaka surged through four straight game before Vekic finally stalled her slide holding for 6-5 and shifting the pressure squarely on the shoulders of the world No. 1. A calm Osaka answered holding at 15 to force the tie breaker.
Whipping her forehand corner to corner, Osaka opened the breaker with a mini-break. Punishing a flurry of forehands, Osaka extend to 4-2.
The serve and forehands were the key strokes for Osaka all day. She singed the sideline with a forehand down the line. Vekic circled a mark she thought wide, but chair umpire Kader Nouni inspected the ball mark, pointed out it touched the sideline remarking "no doubt" to confirm Osaka's 5-3 lead.
When Vekic missed the mark on one final drive, Osaka erupted in a "come on!" working through a hard-fought win in two hours, 16 minutes to level her career clay-court record 11-11.
"For me, it's been a while since I've come back from being down," Osaka said. "I think since Australia, so I felt like it unlocked a part of me that is a bit rusty. I feel like I can sleep good at night today."