10th August, 2019
Serena Williams regained the bragging rights in her head-to-head rivalry with former World Number one Naomi Osaka, besting her in two straight sets in Toronto on Friday night.
Serena won 6-3 6-4 to move into the semi final of the WTA Rogers Cup,
And by the victory, she has settled some scores with the Japanese star, who beat her in the final of the US Open last year.
Serena lost her cool during the match and had a showdown with the umpire, when warned about coaching, an incident famously called the Serena meltdown.
Tonight’s was their first match since the US Open and the first time that Serena was able to see off the younger Osaka. There was a positive for Osaka in the defeat: she will be ranked world number one on Monday.
Unlike in New York last year, there was no Serena-meltdown drama in Toronto, where Williams broke Osaka for a 5-3 lead in the first and closed out the opening set with a service winner.
She broke again for a 2-1 lead in the second and never looked like surrendering the advantage.
Even a run-in with the net cord — as she raced forward trying to run down a drop shot — didn’t faze her.
“It hurt, but it wasn’t the end of the world,” Williams said.
The American’s lone wobble came in the final game. After a pair of aces gave her a triple match point, Williams offered up a double fault and two backhands into the net before she closed it out with an ace on her fourth match point.
“We haven’t played since New York, which was a really good match for her,” said Williams, adding that she feels her own game is coming on as she’d hoped in the buildup to this year’s US Open at Flushing Meadows.
“I’m getting there,” said Williams, who hasn’t dropped a set this week as she pursues a fourth Toronto title to go with those she won in 2001, 2011 and 2013. “It’s definitely not where I want to be, but I’m getting there.”
Osaka said she played too defensively — something she said was hard to avoid when Williams was hitting 31 winners.
“But I think there were chances where she hit shorter balls, but I wasn’t expecting her to hit the shorter balls, so I didn’t move up on time,” she said.
In the semi-finals Williams will face Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova, who advanced when Wimbledon champion Simona Halep retired with Achilles tendon trouble after dropping their first set 6-4.
“I’ve always wanted to play Serena,” said Bouzkova, a 21-year-old ranked 91st in the world. “It’s always my dream to play against her.”