Naomi Osaka qualified for the WTA final in Singapore for the first time. The US Open winner is currently playing at the WTA Premier Mandatory tournament in Beijing.
There were already three: Naomi Osaka made it to the round of sixteen at the last WTA Premier Mandatory event in Beijing and for the first time secured a place in the WTA final in Singapore. And thus follows French Open winner Simona Halep and Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber, whose participations have already been fixed for several weeks. Behind the Romanian’s start, however, there is a big question mark after the latest developments – Halep has probably suffered a slipped disc.
Osaka’s annual balance for 2018 is already remarkable: After all, the 20-year-old has not only won the title at the US Open, in an impressive manner. Osaka was also able to raise the trophy at Indian Wells, the fifth major tournament in the Californian desert.
The appearance among the best eight ladies of the year will be a premiere for Osaka, but Sascha Bajin’s protégé already knows the local conditions. In 2015 Osaka took part in a WTA invitational tournament for the most promising young players, which she also won against Caroline Garcia in the final.
From a Japanese point of view, it is the third participation of a player in the final tournament of the WTA: Ai Sugiyama last made it into the eight field in 2003, before that Kimiko Date had qualified three times.