Dominant Osaka Advances in Canada as Tauson Dedicates Victory to Grandfather

Naomi Osaka delivered a commanding performance to secure her place in the semi-finals of the WTA Canadian Open, defeating 10th seed Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday. The four-time Grand Slam winner needed just 68 minutes to overpower the Ukrainian and move one step closer to her first WTA title since lifting the Australian Open trophy in 2021, Sport360NG reports.

Up next for the Japanese star is 16th seed Clara Tauson of Denmark, who pulled off a major upset with a 6-1, 6-4 win over reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys.

Speaking after her victory, Osaka said she was simply enjoying her time on court again.
“I’m just having a lot of fun playing. I’m happy to be here,” she said. “I think I’ll be seeded at the US Open now because of this result, which was a big goal for me. I’m really excited.”

Tauson, who is chasing her fourth career WTA title, has now recorded back-to-back wins over top-10 players for the first time in her career, having knocked out world No.2 Iga Swiatek in the previous round. The 22-year-old dedicated her latest win to her grandfather, who passed away on Sunday.

“Two days ago, my grandfather unfortunately passed away, so I really wanted to win for him today,” an emotional Tauson said. “I found out the day after I beat Iga, and I just wanted to play my best tennis for him. Hopefully he’s watching.”

Tauson dominated the first set against Keys and capitalized on a double fault from the American to break early in the second. She never faced a break point in the final set and closed out the match with a love hold in just over an hour.

Osaka and Tauson have met once before on the WTA Tour, earlier this year in Auckland, where Osaka was forced to retire after taking the opening set.
“She’s really tough,” Osaka recalled. “I played her in Auckland this year, but had to stop because I was injured. I’m really excited to be healthy this time around.”

A title win in Montreal would mark Osaka’s eighth career WTA crown and her first since returning from maternity leave. She last lifted a non-Grand Slam WTA title in 2019 at the China Open.

Meanwhile, the other semi-final clash on Wednesday will feature Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, against 18-year-old Canadian prodigy Victoria Mboko. Rybakina came out on top in their only previous meeting last month in Washington, winning 6-3, 7-5.