Flawless

NEW YORK, September 9

Naomi Osaka’s sharp serving and superior return game helped her past American Shelby Rogers 6-3 6-4 and into the semifinals of the US Open yesterday as the Japanese continues her quest for a second title at Flushing Meadows.

Osaka, who was 0-3 lifetime against Rogers coming into the match, broke at love to take a 5-3 lead in the first set where Rogers hit 16 unforced errors to Osaka’s five and held serve to claim the set.

The fourth-seeded Osaka broke again early in the second set for a 2-1 lead and sealed the win when Rogers dumped a forehand into the net on match point for her 28th unforced error. “Honestly, I felt like she had the upper hand because I’d never beaten her and those memories are stuck in my head,” said the 22-year-old Osaka, who last faced Rogers in 2017. “So, yeah, I consider this a little bit of revenge.”

Osaka once again had tape wrapped around her left thigh but said it was just as a precaution. Next up for Osaka is in-form American Jennifer Brady, who beat Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-2 earlier in the day.

Osaka entered the court wearing a black mask with George Floyd’s name on it as part of her ongoing protest against racial injustice.

Carreno Busta fights on

Pablo Carreno Busta outlasted an erratic Denis Shapovalov 3-6 7-6(5) 7-6(4) 0-6 6-3 in a seesaw battle lasting over four hours to advance to his second US Open semifinal.

The 29-year-old Spaniard, the oldest of the men’s quarterfinalists at Flushing Meadows, looked to be heading for his first loss on hardcourts to his Canadian opponent after Shapovalov served him a bagel in the fourth set.

However, after getting some treatment to his lower back, 2017 semifinalist Carreno Busta fought back gamely to seal the deciding set in a match that went past 1am in New York.

After spending just an hour on court in his previous round when world No. 1 Novak Djokovic was disqualified, Carreno Busta was understandably drained.

“I’m destroyed, but you know I’m very, very happy,” he said in his on-court interview. “After this fight, this battle, it’s hard to say, but it is incredible to be back in the semifinals again.”

Carreno Busta, who will be eyeing a place in his maiden Grand Slam final, will face Alexander Zverev in the last-four after the German took down Borna Coric.

Fired-up Zverev

German fifth seed Zverev survived a stern test of nerve to reach his second Grand Slam semifinal this year with a 1-6 7-6(5) 7-6(1) 6-3 victory over Croatian Coric.

After a slow start, Zverev raised his game and showed more poise in the crucial moments against the 27th seed to become the first German to reach the last-four at the US Open since Boris Becker in 1995. “I just started playing maybe a little bit more aggressive because if I would’ve played the way I played (at the start), it’s not the level for a quarterfinal match at a Grand Slam,” said Zverev. — Reuters