Naomi Osaka may have survived a scare in her fourth round in Melbourne, but no one would have known about it on Tuesday.
Osaka crossed for a quick victory over Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei in two sets, 6-2, 6-2, in their quarterfinal match at the Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open.
Osaka, number 3 in the world, shared her first two sets with Hsieh before going on a fast three-game run – which she solidified with an ace after entering a fierce battle with Hsieh at the end of the fifth game – to get one 4 -1 advantage in the first set. From there, she quickly pushed to take the 6-2 victory and win the first set.
With the momentum in hand, Osaka reached a quick 3-0 lead in the second set with ease, but lost just four points. Although Hsieh achieved an easy victory in the fourth game and another in the sixth, it was too late. Osaka ended the set almost instantly to finish the match in just over an hour.
Although Hsieh’s first appearance in the Grand Slam singles quarter-finals was beyond amusing – aside from her viral interviews, the 35-year-old toppled Bianca Andreescu and Marketa Vondrousova – she simply failed to fight Osaka on Tuesday.
Osaka crossed his first three rounds of the event with ease and won No. 27 Ons Jabeur from Tunisia in straight sets to reach the fourth round. Osaka then survived a fight with Spaniard Garbiñe Muguruza, who won the first set of the match 6-4 – the first set that Osaka lost in five matches.
The 23-year-old, however, quickly recovered and recovered from a deep hole in the final set – including surviving a couple of match points – to
With the victory on Tuesday, Osaka will face the winner of Serena Williams’s clash with Romanian Simona Halep in the semifinals on Thursday – something she will certainly pay attention to.
“I always watch Serena’s matches anyway,” said Osaka. “Usually I never look at my draw, but everyone told me about my draw here so I kind of had no choice but to know who my next opponent is. [it’s] it’s definitely going to be a lot of fun. “
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