Naomi Osaka will face American Danielle Collins for a place in the semi-finals of the Miami Open after the Japanese player defeated Alison Riske 6-3, 6,4 on Monday.
Osaka has been a force in Florida and has made it to the quarter-finals following her departure from Indian Wells in tears following fans’ scolding earlier this month.
Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion, who was beaten in the first round, has yet to lose a set, and is one of the favorites to win the title. “I am definitely happy,” Osaka stated after the match in a courtside interview.
“Last year I got to the quarters in Miami after winning in Australia, and I am winning matches here this year, too, but I feel more grateful – this is one of the funnest times of my life.”
“Many things were running through my mind last year,” said Osaka, who managed to remain in the lead in the fight against American Riske while securing seven of the eight break points he faced.
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“Maybe it was trying to return to number one or other things which aren’t that important, but at the time was so heavy in my head. I am just happy to be healthy,” said Osaka, who has recently disclosed that she had benefited from therapy to tackle her mental health concerns.
Ninth seed Collins who made it to the semi-finals at Miami in 2018, defeated Ons Jabeur, who was 6-4 and 6-2 earlier on the day.
The newly minted the world’s number-one Iga Swiatek could also advance comfortably on Monday, beating the 14th seeded Coco Gauff 6-1, 6-3 in just 1 hour and 16 minutes.
The second-ranked Swiatek, who has crowned the number one ranking on Friday following the shock of the sudden departure of Ashleigh Barty, is in a 14-match streak of unbeaten.
The 20-year-old Pole took home at the WTA 1000 event in Doha and later won in Indian Wells earlier this month.
She hopes to become four women to be the winner of Indian Wells and Miami in the same year, following Steffi Graf Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka.
Swiatek believes she’s a better athlete than she was back after her win at the delayed pandemic French Open in 2020 for her first Grand Slam win.
“Right now, I feel more prepared, and I feel like I’m in a better place,” Swiatek stated. “So there’s more excitement as well as more satisfaction. Positive emotions and positive thoughts.
“Because after Roland Garros, it was a mess…I have been doing well, like cutting off the expectations from the outside. It was always, for me, harder to deal with the expectations that I had for myself.”
