Osaka brought to knees
World women’s No 1 Naomi Osaka is worried about her chances of defending her US Open title.
She retired from her quarter-final match at the Western & Southern Open yesterday in Mason, Ohio, unsure what’s going on with her left knee. She expected to get an MRI.
“Last year, I won the US Open,” she said. “This year, I’m trying to play the US Open.”
The problem came out of the blue. Osaka split two sets with Sofia Kenin. She felt something unusual in the knee while serving early in the third set. After a timeout to have it examined and wrapped, she played a couple more points before retiring.
“I have no idea what’s going on,” she said.
With that, Kenin advanced to the semifinals for the second straight week. During her run to the semifinals in Toronto, she knocked off then-No 1 Ashleigh Barty, an upset that allowed Osaka to move up to the top ranking. She’ll face Madison Keys, who beat Venus Williams 6-2, 6-3 to reach the semifinals for the first time.
Barty is in position to snatch it back heading into the Open. She beat Maria Sakkari 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 with an encouraging all-around effort.
“Still not quite there but we’re getting better and better each match,” the French Open champion said. “That’s the beauty of being able to stay alive in the tournament is to give myself an opportunity to keep getting better.
“I think I’m still aiming to obviously do very well here but the big picture is New York in 10 days.”
She needs some work on those first sets, though.
Barty got ahead 5-2 in her opening set and got sloppy, letting it slip away. It was the second straight day Barty rallied after dropping a first set. She fought off a match point during a three-set win over Anett Kontaveit on Thursday, showing poise that she’d need to draw upon again a day later.
“There is certainly no panic, where it gets to the stage where I’m kind of overwrought or can’t think straight,” she said. “I’m still able to, more times than not, have the ability to relax and kind of stay clear and come back to what works.”
Aussie Barty will face Svetlana Kuznetsova, who reached her first semifinal of the season by beating third-seeded Karolina Pliskova 3-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
On the men’s side, qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka withdrew because of illness, sending David Goffin into the semifinals.
Goffin will face Richard Gasquet, who advanced with a three-set victory over Roberto Bautista Agut. Gasquet had groin surgery in January and fell to No 68 in the ATP rankings on July 29, his lowest in nine years.