At last Naomi Osaka in final | Sunday Observer

At last Naomi Osaka in final

3 April, 2022

Japan’s Naomi Osaka fought back from a set down to beat Belinda Bencic and move into the Miami Open final.

Switzerland’s Bencic, seeded 22nd, took the opening set but former world number one Osaka recovered to seal a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory in two hours six minutes.

Unseeded Osaka, 24, will play the winner of the second semi-final - second seed Iga Swiatek of Poland or Jessica Pegula, the 16th-seed American.

Osaka will be playing in her first final since the 2021 Australian Open.

She has won four grand slam titles - the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021 and the US Open in 2018 and 2020 - but has dropped to 77th in the rankings as a result of not competing in many tournaments.

Osaka, reduced to tears by a heckler during her second-round exit at Indian Wells earlier this month, is playing just her fourth event since taking a break from tennis in September. (BBC sport)

 

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