By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Disparate styles are thriving in the Western & Southern Open bubble.

Firepower meets finesse when 2018 US Open champion Naomi Osaka faces reigning US Open doubles champ Elise Mertens for a spot in the W&S Open final at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

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Down a set and a break in today’s quarterfinal, Osaka tuned into the shotmaking muse.

Firing her forehand and serve with more accuracy and ambition, Osaka roared through a nine-game run rallying past Anett Kontaveit 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 into her first W&S Open semifinal.

It was Osaka's fourth win over Kontaveit in as many meetings.

Staring down a break point to fall into a love-3 second-set hole, Osaka slashed one of her nine aces triggering her nine-game surge.

Osaka permitted just nine points on her first serve improving to 6-1 vs. Top 30 opponents in 2020.



The lone Top 10 player still standing in the draw advanced to her second semifinal in three tournaments this season.

Playing for her sixth career title, Osaka is bidding to become the first wild card to take the title since Maria Sharapova in 2011.

The 20th-ranked Kontaveit struck with conviction, particularly on her two-handed backhand. Kontaveit won eight of nine points earning the opening break then confirming it at love for a 4-2 lead she did not relinquish in building a one-set lead.

Imparting more topspin on her crosscourt forehand, Osaka targeted Kontaveit’s sometime unruly forehand wing and reaped the rewards of that tactic.

The two-time Grand Slam champion cracked a forehand bolt down the line scoring her third consecutive break and sixth straight game to snatch the second set and force a final set.

Osaka extended her run to nine straight games before Kontaveit finally stopped the bleeding—then began belting the ball.

Two games from the finish line, Osaka lost the plot serving at 4-2. She shanked a swing volley then sailed a backhand ceding the break back to Kontaveit.

Escalating tension did not deter Osaka in the 11th game. She blistered a backhand winner off the sidelined then slashed an ace sealing her second love hold of the set for 6-5.

Anticipating the direction of Kontaveit's forehand sitter, Osaka held her ground and rapped a forehand winner down the line in the final game. When Kontaveit narrowly missed the mark with a backhand down the line, Osaka was through in one hour, 53 minues.

Earlier, Mertens played shrewd angles and deployed her dipping lob to great effect defeating American qualifier Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-3.



The 14th-seeded Mertens, who was runner-up to Simona Halep on the red clay of Prague earlier this month, has made a smooth transition to the fast Flushing Meadows hard courts.

“You definitely have to push yourself to play aggressive all the time, because it's a really fast surface,” Mertens said. “It's faster than last year, definitely. But also, the balls stay lower. I mean, you really have to go in your legs and get those balls back, staying balanced, doing those, you know, if you're on the run.

“I don't know what kind of surface I like the most. I think after a few days, I'm, like, oh, yeah, this is good, but I don't know, actually. But I try to adapt fast, and that's was I was trying to do.”

Mertens, who partnered Aryna Sabalenka to the 2019 US Open doubles crown, is still alive in doubles as well.

Osaka and Mertens have split two prior meetings—both on hard courts—with the 22-year-old Japanese winning their most recent meeting en route to the Osaka title last fall.

“It's going to be difficult either way, because Naomi can strike the ball really well, can get those angles in,” Mertens said of Osaka. “Especially when her first serve is going, it's going to be difficult. I think I will focus on my game what I can improve from this one to the next one. Yeah, try to stay focused and in the bubble.”