Miami Open: Osaka fires 13 aces to secure semifinal clash against Bencic

Former world No.1 and winner of four Grand Slams, Naomi Osaka of Japan, lost only three games in her 6-2, 6-1 victory over No.9 seed Danielle Collins of the US to make it to her maiden Miami Open semifinal on Wednesday (IST).

The Florida native fired 13 aces against the Australian Open semifinalist en route to meeting defending champion Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the last-four. With the victory, the twice US Open and two-time Australian Open winner became the second Japanese woman to reach the last-four at the Miami Open since Kimiko Date Krumm did so in 1993 and 1995.

If Osaka beats Bencic in the semifinal, it will be the 24-year-old Japanese player's first WTA 1000 final since 2020.

Osaka has not lost a set en route to the Miami semifinals, having defeated Astra Sharma of Australia, Angelique Kerber of Germany, Alison Riske of the US, and No.9 seed Collins. She has now won nine of her last 10 quarterfinals and carries a strong record in semifinals into her match against Bencic, who she has yet to beat in a tour-level match, according to wtatennis.com.

"I'm glad I was able to get through quickly. I focused on trying to hit a lot of really good returns," Osaka said following her 60-minute win. "This is actually my first night match too, so I didn't know what the conditions would be like."

Miami will be Osaka's 18th career semifinal, with 16 having come on her favoured hard courts. The two exceptions came on grass at 2018 Nottingham and clay at 2019 Stuttgart. Since the start of 2019, Osaka is 6-1 in contested semifinals.