The unseeded Osaka defeated No. 22 Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday in the Miami Open semifinals.
She’s in a championship match for the first time since the 2021 Australian Open, and will meet No. 2 Iga Swiatek for the title on Saturday.Maybe not even almost. She hid her face in an orange towel a few times following the final point, at least one tear clearly making its way down her right cheek. Osaka entered this tournament ranked No. 77 in the world, will leave Miami no worse than 36th and would be back in the top 30 if she wins the title.
Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev came into the tournament as the No. 2-ranked men’s player in the world. Hubert Hurkacz ensured he will stay there.Hurkacz — the No. 8 seed and defending Miami champion — wore down the top-seeded and cramp-riddled Medvedev 7-6 , 6-3 on Thursday in a men’s quarterfinal.Had Medvedev prevailed, he would have overtaken Novak Djokovic on Monday and returned to No. 1 in the world rankings. Instead, the Russian will stay No.
“I was returning pretty well, I was putting some pressure on his serves and that was helping my game,” Hurkacz said. “I was able to get some free points on my serve and that was pretty big.”
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