Osaka Defeats Wang To Reach First Grass-Court Final

Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka is into the first grass-court final of her career after blasting past China’s Wang Xinyu at Bad Homburg, Germany.

The Japanese sixth seed won 6-3, 6-3 in sweltering conditions at the key Wimbledon preparation tournament. Osaka blasted six aces and broke her opponent once to take the first set comfortably.

Solid in all departments, she converted 4 of her 7 break points, fired 8 aces, and won 79% of points behind her first serve.

This qualification represents a significant moment for the former world No. 1 and confirms her gradual adaptation to the grass surface, just days before the start of the Wimbledon Championship.

Osaka won two titles apiece on the hard courts of the Australian and US Opens, but has struggled on grass, never making it past the third round at Wimbledon.

The 28-year-old will face the winner of the second semifinal between Elena-Gabriela Ruse and fourth seed Karolina Muchova.