Serena Sweeps Aside World Number 1 Osaka, Halep Retires Injured
10th August 2019
Even a run-in with the net cord -- as she raced forward trying to run down a drop shot -- didn't faze her.
- Serena Williams won the rematch Friday, dominating Naomi Osaka 6-3, 6-4 to ensure the Japanese star won't leave Toronto with a title to go with her number one world ranking
- There was no such 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
- 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
TORONTO, Canada- Serena Williams won the rematch Friday, dominating Naomi Osaka 6-3, 6-4
to ensure the Japanese star won't leave Toronto with a title to go with her
number one world ranking.
Williams fired 12
aces and didn't face a break point as she beat Osaka for the first time in
three meetings -- avenging her shock loss in last year's controversial US Open
final in which the American star was docked a point and a game after losing her
temper when warned about coaching.
There was no such
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.
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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."
- Bouzkova books Serena 'dream' -
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."
Bouzkova notched her
third straight win over a Grand Slam champion, having beaten former US Open
winner Sloane Stephens and former French Open champ Jelena Ostapenko.
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But Halep marked her
first win over a top-five player.
The Romanian, who
roared back from 0-4 down to level the set at 4-4 only to lose the last two
games, said she had been bothered by her Achilles tendon from the start of
the tournament.