Osaka eases past Kontaveit after roller coaster match 11 days earlier
The last match between Naomi Osaka and Anett Kontaveit was a roller coaster; this one was a locomotive, moving at top speed in one direction. How Osaka played urgent, but never impatient tennis in a straight-set win.
When Naomi Osaka and Anett Kontaveit played at the Western and Southern Open last week, it was a three-set roller coaster. When they faced off again late on Sunday night, the match felt more like a locomotive. Instead of ups and down and twists and turns, this was a one-way ride to a destination that felt predetermined the entire time.
It was a fast locomotive, too. After walking on court a little after 11:00 P.M., the two women weren’t in the mood for wasting any more time. That was especially true of Osaka, who played urgent, but never impatient, tennis throughout. An hour and 12 minutes later, she had a 6-3, 6-4 win.
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Osaka and Kontaveit have similar games. They hit hard from both wings and move well, and they don’t try too much fancy stuff. But Osaka, who is now 5-0 against Kontaveit, does everything a little better—or maybe I should say a little bigger. She’s 5’11” to Kontaveit’s 5’9” and she has an even greater power advantage than those heights would suggest. Osaka’s serve reached 120 m.p.h. in this match, and she made 71 percent of her first serves. It’s hardly a surprise that Kontaveit never managed to reach break point, but it’s a bit of a shock that she won just nine of 45 receiving points.
The story was the same from the ground. Osaka was tomahawking her forehand into the corners, sending Kontaveit scrambling back and forth in a futile pursuit of the ball. The Estonian doesn’t excel at mixing in different speeds or spins, or in rushing the net. She was left trying to gain the upper hand in the rallies by out-powering Osaka, a strategy that mainly led to errors. When Kontaveit came up with a good crosscourt angle, Osaka was ready with a better one. Osaka won the short rallies, and she won the long rallies, too
Osaka said she tried to improve her attitude tonight; in her last match, she indulged in a rare racquet toss or two. Mission accomplished: She played with poise and positivity against Kontaveit. She’ll need more of the same in the quarterfinals, where she’ll face Shelby Rogers, a player she has never beaten. Osaka says she’ll consider herself in the underdog in that match. That won’t be true for long if she plays the way she did tonight. This train looks like it’s picking up speed.