Naomi Osaka defeated Danielle Collins to qualify for her first ever Miami Open semifinal.
The former world no.1 dominated the American 6-3, 6-1 in just 60 minutes to become only the second Japanese woman to reach the semifinals of the Miami Open since Kimiko Date Krumm in 1993 and 1995.
Osaka fired 13 aces and raced through her service games with ease, not facing a single breakpoint in the match while breaking the Collins serve five times on her way to her first Miami Open semifinal.
The three-time major champion took advantage of a sub-par serving day from Collins who served at just 38% for the match and misfired on seven double faults. With Collins struggling to find her first serve, Osaka targeted her second-serve return, winning 68% of the time.
Including her remarkable ace count, Osaka hit a total of 25 winners to just 3 unforced errors in the match.
Despite her struggles on serve, Collins was solid on the ground, hitting 18 winners to 16 unforced errors but could not find a way through the 24-year-old’s high-octane performance.
The Japanese has now won nine of her last 10 quarterfinals and Miami will be Osaka’s 18th career semifinal, with 16 having come on her favored hard courts. Since the start of 2019, Osaka is 6-1 in contested semifinals.
Osaka will now face the reigning Olympic champion Belinda Bencic for a spot in her first WTA 1000 final since 2020. The Swiss has also looked in resurgent and dominant form over the fortnight with the 22 Seed yet to lose a set and having lost just 17 games across her four matches.
