Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka fought past Clara Tauson to reach the Canadian Open 2025 final on Wednesday.
In the summit clash, she will take on Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko, who saved a match point in a thrilling 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) victory over former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the other semifinal.
Japan’s Osaka, chasing her first tour-level title since the 2021 Australian Open, saved a pair of set points in the second-set tiebreak to polish off a 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) victory over Denmark’s Tauson, who was coming off victories over Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek and Australian Open winner Madison Keys.
Osaka has looked re-energised this week after a coaching shakeup, and rolled through the first set against Tauson.
But Tauson twice regained a break in the second set as she pushed it to the tiebreaker, where she had chances to level the match after taking a 6-4 lead.
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Unable to convert her set points, the Dane saved one match point to make it 7-7, but Osaka won the next two to seal the victory and reach her first final in a WTA 1000 level event since Miami in 2022.
“Definitely really happy. (I’m) excited to play my first hard court final back,” said Osaka, who started the week ranked 49th in the world.
Osaka, whose performance so far this week means she’s assured of rising high enough in the rankings to be seeded at the US Open later this month, was bracing for a tough match against a player who said in a youthful interview that she idolised the Japanese star.
“I watched her play today because they were the match in front of us. I thought it was really impressive how she stayed calm,” said Osaka, adding that Mboko’s rebound from match point down was “really impressive for an 18-year-old.”