Semifinal night at the US Open this year opened with 2018 champion Naomi Osaka taking to Arthur Ashe Stadium for her match against 28th seed Jennifer Brady. Brady’s semifinal appearance at her home Slam this fortnight made this year’s US Open the eighth Grand Slam event in succession which featured a first time semifinalist, the 26th time this has occurred in the past 28 Grand Slams held.
In what was a hard-hitting encounter between the pair, the younger but more experienced Osaka moved past the American in three sets to secure a third Grand Slam final berth, her second here at the Big Apple. As the former champion Osaka gears up for the championship match Saturday, it is worth noting that she has yet to drop a match in the quarterfinal or better stage at the Grand Slams.
Osaka takes opening set tiebreak in dominant style
The first six games of the match passed in routine fashion, with Osaka holding serve, to love, to start off the match. Brady came up with her own service hold next, serving her first ace to level the score 1-1. That same pattern followed in the next four service games. In the seventh game, Osaka looked set for another love hold of serve when a string of errors ensued which handed Brady the first opportunity to break serve in the match. Osaka, however, regrouped and eventually held serve.
A streak of five service holds came soon after that, the latter four not going to deuce, sending the first set into a tiebreak. It was all about the Japanese player in here as she sprinted off to a 6-1 lead, and five set points, Brady only managing to score that one point via a service winner. Osaka was wasting no time as she successfully converted on her first try after forcing a forehand error from her opponent’s racket.
Brady sends the match to a decider
The second set began with both players trading service holds to fifteen. Brady then carved a love service hold, finishing it with another ace. She then found herself with a 0-30 opening on the Osaka serve in the next game, which eventually went to deuce, but it was not enough as Osaka fired a winner and then forced an error from the American to hold serve.
After a further three service holds, Brady now leading 4-3 with Osaka serving, the American finally earned herself her first break point opportunity of the set, which she duly converted. Serving for the set, she surged to 40-0 and three chances to close it out, only for Osaka to fire a forehand winner next. The next point was not to be for the Japanese player as a long forehand handed Brady the second set, sending the match to a decider.
Osaka locks early break lead en route to victory
Osaka was ruthless in the decider, having come up short in the previous set, as she held serve to love to start things off. Brady followed suit next but had to work a little harder as she was taken to deuce twice. After another service hold, Osaka finally scored her one and only break on the Brady serve, the final break of serve in the entire match, firing two winners en route, and then wasted no time consolidating the break to surge ahead 4-1.
In the next game, Osaka looked to avoid hanging around any longer as she soared off to two break point chances but was denied the break by her opponent, the second saved by the latter with an ace. Osaka would go on to carve out her third break opportunity of the game with a winner but an ace on the Brady racket put it away once more. Brady would go on to hold serve in that game, needing seven minutes to do so.
Both players then traded service holds once more and Osaka now found herself in position to serve out the match, which she did successfully, firing a winner to set up match point before drawing an error from her opponent to move into her third Grand Slam final. It was a hard fought win for the former world number 1 as she closed out the match in two hours and eight minutes.
The pair had a dominant day on serve, serving up a total of 19 aces between them, Brady hitting one more than Osaka. The Japanese player, however, was a tad better in the service points won department, winning 84% of first-serve points and 58% of points on her second delivery, as opposed to her American opponent’s 77% and 51%, respectively. Both women fired a total of 70 winners between them in the match, splitting 35 each, but Brady’s 25 unforced errors proved costly as opposed to Osaka who only had 17.
Up next
Osaka will take on unseeded Victoria Azarenka in the championship round. Like 2013 and 2016, it will be a rematch of the Western & Southern Open final prior, and in the former two instances, the result was reversed between both finals.
Azarenka, into her third US Open final, will be seeking to end that trend and scoop her first title here, and her third Grand Slam title overall, her first since the 2013 Australian Open. Osaka, however, is aiming to make it three out of three in Grand Slam final wins, and become the first player born in the 1990s to win three Grand Slam singles titles.