Tearful Osaka survives scare to reach semis

BEIJING: US Open champion Naomi Osaka (pic) overcame her emotions to roar back and defeat unseeded Zhang Shuai 36, 64, 75 in a rollercoaster China Open quarterfinal match.

The 20yearold Japanese was broken on her first two service games and had tears in her eyes as the match threatened to slip away in the second set yesterday.

But the world number six gathered herself and – although she continued to look glum and flung her racquet about – found the resolve to pull through over three nailbiting sets.

Osaka faces either of the unseeded duo of Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova or Slovak Dominika Cibulkova in the last four.

The 45thranked Zhang Shuai – with the Beijing crowd on her side – raced into an early lead against an unusually erratic Osaka, who had won 24 of her previous 28 games.

The eighth seed, who stunned Serena Williams to win her maiden Grand Slam last month in New York, belatedly began finding some range.

But she continued to rack up errors and conceded the first set when she hit into the net. She was to make 66 unforced errors in all.

The 29yearold Zhang Shuai, who has won two career WTA singles titles, saved six break points to take the lead in the second set.

Zhang Shuai broke to go 20 up and Osaka – who has admitted struggling with the fallout from the US Open final, when Williams rowed with the chair umpire – began welling up.

But Osaka defied her emotions to avoid the upset, although she barely raised a smile even in victory. Earlier, Aryna Sabalenka added to her growing reputation as she dumped out reigning champion Caroline Garcia in a latenight thriller on Thursday.

In the best match of the tournament so far in Beijing, rising star Sabalenka was staring defeat in the face at a set down and 53 down in the second set to the fourthseeded French player.

But roared on by a cheering squad decked out in matching purple and white jackets, the unseeded 20yearold fought back to force the secondset tie break, and from there a deciding set.

With the holder visibly wilting under the Belarusian’s relentless barrage, Sabalenka surged to the finish in a 57, 76 (73), 60 win and a hardearned place in the quarter.