Naomi Osaka reaches quarterfinals at China Open
Naomi Osaka of Japan spins her racquet as she waits for a serve from Alison Riske of the United States during their third round of the women’s singles match in the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
BEIJING— Naomi Osaka won the final 10 games of the match and beat Alison Riske 6-4, 6-0 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals at the China Open.
The two-time Grand Slam champion from Japan served seven aces and stretched her winning streak seven matches.
“Today I was kind of happy because the first set was really tight. I was thinking that it’s been a while since I’ve kind of had to be really serious,” Osaka said. “It seemed like she was the type that would use my pace, especially on the forehand. I just tried not to give her too much.”
Osaka will next face Bianca Andreescu in a meeting of the last two U.S. Open champions. The Canadian easily defeated American qualifier Jennifer Brady 6-1, 6-3.
Osaka called Andreescu “an amazing player.”
“I feel like she’s doing better than I was last year, so it’s all cool,” Osaka said. “I have to learn from her, too.”
Defending champion Caroline Wozniacki also advanced to the quarterfinals, beating Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 6-4.
“I was trying to stay aggressive. I was trying to move the ball around a lot,” the 16th-seeded Wozniacki said. “I think I was successful most of the time, but there was a couple of games where she played good or I played a little sloppy.”
Also, Daria Kasatkina beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-3.
In the men’s draw, John Isner hit 21 aces in a 7-6 (3), 7-5 victory over Dan Evans.
The American will next face Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals. The third-seeded Greek came back from a set down to defeat defending champion Nikoloz Basilashvili 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
“In the second and third sets, I felt really comfortable,” Tsitsipas said. “I returned well, served well and did everything well.”
Also, Alexander Zverev beat Felix Auger Aliassime 6-3, 6-1, and Sam Querrey defeated Diego Schwartzman 7-6 (2), 6-7 (6), 6-3.
Top-seeded Dominic Thiem will play Andy Murray on Friday. Murray won consecutive singles matches in Beijing for the first time since undergoing hip surgery in January.
