Tokyo: US Open champion Naomi Osaka continued to flourish in front of her home crowd at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, as she comfortably dispatched Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4 here Friday to reach the semifinals.
The 20-year-old is competing at her first event since winning her debut Grand Slam earlier this month and looks to have brought her New York form home with her as she has yet to drop a set so far in Tokyo.
Osaka proved too powerful for Strycova from the off, storming into a 4-1 lead in the first set with a dominant service game, while her forehand was too strong for the World No.25 to handle. Despite some crafty defence from Strycova to stay in the contest, the result never appeared in doubt as Osaka won easily in one hour and 35 minutes.
Osaka will face Italian Camila Giorgi in the semis Saturday after Victoria Azarenka was forced to retire injured in their quarterfinal contest with Giorgi leading 5-3 in the first set.
Earlier in the day, fans at the Tachikawa Tachihi Arena were treated to a marathon contest that saw Karolina Pliskova defeat Alison Riske, the conqueror of two-time Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza earlier in the tournament 6-1, 6-7(5-7), 7-6(7-4) after over two and a half hours of play. Pliskova,set up a semifinal meeting with Donna Vekic.
Croatian Donna Vekic shocked World No.4 and second seed Caroline Garcia 6-3, 6-4 to continue her unlikely run at this event.
