Japanese rising star Naomi Osaka beat Madison Keys 6-2 6-4 in the semifinal of the US Open to set up a mouth-watering final against US legend Serena Williams.
Keys had won their previous three head-to-head matches, but Osaka prevailed in 85 minutes over her US rival.
“I feel like every day that I play. I always want to keep improving, so I am never really sure what my top level is. I think for sure today I played really well, and I had to because Keys is such a great player. She has a great record against me. The last few times I have played against Madison. I have been the one that’s been trying to go for shots. Today I was just trying to be more patient and maybe go for them when I had the opportunity. I wasn’t trying to hit that many winners or anything”, said Osaka during the post match press conference.
Naomi Osaka was born in Osaka to a Japanese mother Tamaki Osaka and a Haitian father Leonard Francois. Naomi moved to the United States at the age of three with her family and currently lives in Florida. Since the beginning of the year Naomi has been coached by Aleksander Bajin.
Osaka started the 2018 season ranked 68 and climbed to world 19 in September 2018. At last January’s Australian Open sbe beat Ashleigh Barty in the third round before losing to Simona Halep in the fourth round. In Indian Wells beat former world number 1 Karolina Pliskova in straight sets to reach her maiden Premier Mandatory semifinal. She went on to beat world number one Simona Halep in straight sets to advance to the biggest final of her final. She beat Daria Kasatkina to lift her first Premier Mandatory title.
One week later in Miami Osaka beat Serena Williams, who was playing her fourth match since her comeback following the birth of her first daughter Alexis Olympia. Osaka then reached the third round at the French Open before losing to Madison Keys, the semifinal in Nottingham and another Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon.
At the US Open Osaka beat Laura Siegemund, Julia Glushko, Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Aryna Sabalenka, Lesla Tsurenko and Madison Keys en route to her first Grand Slam final.
In her maiden Grand Slam final Osaka will face her childhood idol Serena Williams, who cruised past Anastasja Sevastova 6-3 6-0. The Japanese player will be bidding to win her first Grand Slam title after winning her maiden trophy at Indian Wells. Osaka beat Williams 6-3 6-2 in the first round at Miami earlier this year.
“It feels a little bit surreal. Even when I was a little kid. I always dreamed that I would play Serena in a final of a Grand Slam. Just the fact that it’s happening, I am happy about it. I really feel like I don’t want to overthink this match, so I am not going to think that she is so much better than she was in Madrid. I am just going to go out there and play. Since I already know she is a good player, I don’t want to be surprised if she plays better or not”.
