Naomi Osaka powered into her first National Bank Open semifinal, beating No. 10 seed Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday night.
Osaka advanced to face No. 16 seed Clara Tauson, who eliminated sixth-seeded Madison Keys 6-1, 6-4 in the first quarterfinal of the night.
Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam champion who reached No. 1 in the rankings, continued her best performance in a WTA 1000 tournament since reaching the final in Miami in 2022. She stepped away from tennis for 15 months toward the end of that season and had daughter Shai in July 2023.
The native of Japan is seeking her eighth career title and her first since the 2021 Australian Open.
“I’m really happy. I’m also really excited,” Osaka said. “After Wimbledon (a third-round loss), I was really disappointed, and then I just kind of let go of my expectations. And now we’re here.
“I find it kind of ironic, but I’m happy about it.”
Osaka got to the final of the ASB Classic final in Auckland to begin this season and faced Tauson but had to retire due to an abdominal injury after winning the first set 6-4.
Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko takes on ninth seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the other semifinal Wednesday. Mboko, who’s playing in her first main draw at the National Bank Open, will rise into the WTA’s top 50 after beginning the year outside the top 300.
The 18-year-old from Toronto has defeated five higher-ranked opponents en route to the semifinals, including top seed Coco Gauff in the fourth round.
Tauson dedicated her victory to her grandfather, Peter, during an on-court interview at IGA Stadium.
“I really wanted to win for him today,” she told the crowd before breaking down in tears. “I really wanted to come out here and show my best tennis for him, and hopefully he’s watching.”
Tauson said she only found out about her grandfather’s death on Monday, a day after she eliminated Wimbledon champion and No. 3-ranked Iga Swiatek 7-6 (1), 6-3.
She spoke of him as one of the biggest supporters of her career.
“He used to coach me a little bit playing tennis and drove me to almost every single practice from my school,” the 22-year-old native of Denmark said. “It was tough news yesterday morning when I woke up, but I think it’s for the better. He was not feeling great for a while.”
Tauson hasn’t lost a set in the tournament.
Keys failed to convert two break chances in the first game. After the American held serve, Tauson won the ensuing five games to take the first set.
“Not my best performance out there today,” said Keys, who won this year’s Australian Open. “She played amazing tonight. She played incredibly well, she served really well. It was just one of those things where I felt like I kept trying different things, and she was just beating me.
“When she’s serving like that, it’s going to be really hard to break her.”
