Winning the clay title for the first time in history, Naomi Osaka is a stone's throw away from returning to Japan

When it comes to Japanese women's tennis players, many fans will immediately think of Naomi Osaka. Indeed, this player has won four Grand Slam titles and has even reached the world No. 1 ranking. In the past, she won 16 consecutive Grand Slam victories. Not only that, but Naomi Osaka has also won titles in both the WTA1000 and WTA 500 events. At that time, she was pinned on by many fans.

However, even in the most popular years, Naomi Osaka's record at the French Open was not satisfactory. After reaching the round of 32 at Roland Garros in 2016, she has not made a breakthrough in this tennis tournament. Although she has twice reached the round of 32, Naomi Osaka has never been able to make it past the second week of the French Open. What's even more shocking is that until last week, she hadn't even won a title on clay.

Faced with such regrets, Naomi Osaka, who has suffered two consecutive defeats, came to the San Malo Challenge last week. It is worth mentioning that when the French Open is getting closer and closer, Naomi Osaka appeared on this clay court with a wild card, and it is conceivable that she actually has ambitions to make a breakthrough on clay.

Naomi Osaka's opponent in the first round was Croatia's Marcinko. With the player's world ranking well outside the 200, it's hard to pose a threat to Naomi Osaka. Sure enough, she only allowed her opponent to win three games and made it to the second round. In the second round, Naomi Osaka will be challenged by France's Parry, a former French Open champion and Czech Republic's Krejcikova, who has a strong clay court. In the game, Parry took the first game, and in the next game, Naomi Osaka adjusted her state, won two sets in a row, reversed and defeated her opponent, and reached the quarterfinals.

Since the Saint-Malo Challenge is held in France, there are a lot of French players participating. Naomi Osaka's opponent in the quarterfinals is Frenchman Jacquemo. Against the former French Open junior champion, Naomi Osaka showed no mercy, sweeping in two sets to reach the semi-finals for the second time this season after the WTA 250 Auckland Open at the beginning of the year.

In the semi-finals, Naomi Osaka faced another Frenchman, Jean. In this match, Naomi Osaka only allowed her opponent to win two games in the first set. However, when many fans thought that the big picture was decided, Jean began to fight back. She returned the color 6-4 and dragged the match into the deciding set. Unfortunately, in the deciding set, Naomi Osaka started her solo performance, sending a duck egg to defeat Jean Jean and reach the final for the second time this season.

In the final, Naomi Osaka's opponent was Slovenia's Yuvan. Judging from the rankings, she is clearly not Naomi Osaka's opponent at the top 500. Sure enough, in the first set, Naomi Osaka sent a fritter and was only one step away from winning the championship. However, in the second set, the situation changed dramatically, and Yuwan used his serve to stubbornly battle the four-time Grand Slam champion, and although he still failed to win in the end, he was able to force Naomi Osaka to a seventh-point point. More importantly, with his record of reaching the final, Yuvan's world ranking has risen to less than 350.

Naomi Osaka won her first clay title, and her world ranking reached the top 48, just a stone's throw away from Japan's first sister Moe Natsu Uchijima. So, in the next match, will Naomi Osaka be able to continue her crazy performance on clay and return to the position of Japan's first sister? Let's wait and see. That's it for today, and it will continue tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Yixin Jushi)