By Lance Jenkinson
Naomi Osaka’s brave and enterprising play has won her loads of admirers and a place in the 2019 Australian Open women’s singles final.
The Japanese sensation did not shy away from her brand of tennis in a hard fought 6-2 4-6 6-4 victory over Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday.
While Pliskova praised her style of play, Osaka was more pleased with the fight she demonstrated until the last point.
“I don’t necessarily think I played the best I’ve ever played,” Osaka said. “I mean, for me, what I take away from this is that I never gave up and that’s something I’m really proud of for myself.
“There are moments in the match where I thought like this is getting really close. I just thought I wouldn’t forgive myself if I had, like, a little dip or a moment of accepting defeat.”
Osaka breezed through the first set in a mere 32 minutes.
The 20-year-old’s aggressiveness paid dividends as she produced a number of unplayable shots for winners.
“She’s an aggressive player, so she’s going to have better matches and worse matches,” Pliskova said. “Maybe this is her best match in the life from my kind of view.
“I don’t think she did anything wrong really. She just went for it completely. She deserved to win, of course.”
Osaka was looking fresh and fit early on, while Pliskova seemed a tad off her game.
It led people to ask if Pliskova’s classic match against Serena Williams a day earlier had taken its toll.
Pliskova gave nothing away on court – appearing calm and deliberate like she usually is. She would be a good poker player with her body language so hard to read.
In the post-game, Pliskova revealed the strain that she had put on her body 24 hours earlier.
“It was tough,” Pliskova said. “For sure, if there’s a day in between these two matches, it would be helpful for me.
“Not only that the match yesterday was tough, but also was emotionally tough, too. I was missing maybe little bit power today. I was doing everything possible, but little bit I was just missing here and there. That’s how it is.”
To her credit, Pliskova fought back to take the second set in 45 minutes, setting the stage for a winner-takes-all third set.
The fourth seeded Osaka pounced for a break in the first game of the third set, but immediately relinquished the break in the next game.
Osaka’s stubbornness paid off though as she got another break to take a 2-1 lead in the set – a lead that should would not let go of.
The US Open champion moved through to her first Australian Open final. She is looking forward to facing an in-form eighth seed Petra Kvitova, also from the Czech Republic, in a mouth watering final on Saturday.
“We’ve never played before,” Osaka said. “I think to have the opportunity to play her for the first time in a final of a grand slam is something very amazing.
“I’ve watched her play the Wimbledon finals, I know what a great player she is. It’s definitely going to be very tough for me.”
Kvitova powers away
Kvitova withstood an early test from 35th ranked American Danielle Collins before powering to a 7-6 6-0 victory.
The match was played in searing heat with the roof open early in the first set, then in a climate controlled environment with the roof closed later in the match.
Despite a 10-minute delay mid-match, Kvitova gave the thumbs up to the roof being closed.
“If we do have those options with the roof, I think it’s great,” she said. “I think sometimes it’s very dangerous to play in this kind of heat, so I’m really for it [to be closed].”
It will be the first time Kvitova has featured in the Australian Open women’s singles final.
The 28-year-old will be looking to add to her two grand slam titles won at Wimbledon.
She has the advantage of experience heading into the final, though her opponent Osaka was a grand slam champion only last year, while Kvitova’s last major came back in 2014.
Kvitova is excited to make it through to the decider.
“Yeah, it’s been a while,” Kvitova said. “It’s been five years. You know, that’s why I worked pretty hard to be back there. It just taste very great, so I’m really happy to be back there again.”
