Osaka won her first Saturday's match 6-4 and 6-4 and had few hours to recover and get ready for another match. This time she faced ninth-seeded Elise Mertens and after the match with Putintseva she said:
“For me, I learned a lot from when I played her at Wimbledon, and I know that a hardcourt is where I feel most comfortable,” Osaka said. “And also, I’m playing in Japan, so I thought I had the advantage this time around.”
Both players were patient at the beginning of the semi-final match. They hold their serves until 10th game, when Osaka managed to break her opponent's serve and win the first set 6-4. In the second set Osaka kept up her great first serve percantage, when she won 83% points after the first service. She dominated in that set and won it comfortably in 25 minutes 6-1.
Osaka will be aiming to win her 2nd title this year after winning the Australian Open. In the final she will face the winner of the semi-final match between Angelique Kerber and Anastasia Pavlycuhenkova.
[embed]https://twitter.com/WTA/status/1175324447282204672[/embed]