She again looked in trouble after losing her serve for the second time in the opening set on Sunday but proved nearly unstoppable after receiving treatment on her upper thigh and wrapped up her 24th career title in 106 minutes.
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Caroline Wozniacki outlasted Agnieszka Radwanska 4-6 7-5 6-4 in their semi-final at the Tokyo WTA tournament on Saturday to end the Pole’s reign at the Ariake Coliseum.
The former No. 1 led 5-0 before Osaka fought back to give home fans some hope, but Wozniacki sealed victory in the ninth game when Osaka’s return went wide.
The Dane, a victor in Tokyo six years ago, will face either Ukrainian, Elina Svitolina, or Japan’s Naomi Osaka in Sunday’s Tokyo final as she goes in search of a 24th career title. Osaka, who also beat Japanese No. 1 Misaki Doi in the opening round, will climb into the top 50 when the new world rankings are released on Monday. We both wanted to go out there and play well.
“Injuries happen and you never know when you can be taken out of the game, so I’m just savouring every minute”.
“I was just fighting to get healthy again and that’s that really”, she said, brushing off retirement talk.
Osaka continued to build on her momentum in the third, breaking the Ukrainian twice on her way to knocking out the world number 20 as she reached her first Pan Pacific Open final. “I should have focused more and try to play my game instead of just reacting to everything”.
Wozniacki then missed a match point that would have given her victory without dropping a game in the second set, but Osaka recovered to take the next three games and put pressure firmly on the Dane.
The 18-year-old Osaka, who called a medical timeout of her own for a sore right shoulder after losing the first set, produced some spirited resistance to avoid the dreaded “bagel”, but it was too little too late.
“I don’t think she missed a ball in that first set, and after that she was very comfortable”, Muguruza said.
Wozniacki appears back near her best after a succession of ankle, knee and bicep injuries; reaching the U.S. Open semifinals and continuing that form here.
“This is a great tournament”, she said.
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“I was thinking too much about, like, since I have a bigger chance, I had a little bit more pressure because she was injured”.
