Both #NaomiOsaka and #KikiBertens had contrasting routes to the quarterfinals — with the Japanese strolling through her matches with identical 6-3, 6-3 scorelines while the Dutchwoman had to survive two feisty challenges from her tricky opponents to reach this stage. The world number one Osaka will face the red-hot Bertens on Friday afternoon at 12 pm local time on the beautiful #CourtCentrale in Rome, who can prevail in this crucial clash at the #InternazionaliBNLDItalia?
Osaka on clay: An underestimated power
Prior to 2019, Osaka had never reached the quarterfinals of a clay-court event throughout her career but after her rise to the top of the rankings, she is ultimately set for a breakthrough on her least-preferred surface. Having participated in three red-clay tournaments this year, Osaka reached three consecutive quarterfinals in what could be considered as an impressive feat for her.
She defeated nemesis Hsieh Su-wei at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix before producing a stunning comeback from 1-5 down in the deciding set to prevail against an inspired Donna Vekic. However, that match took a toll on her body as Osaka was forced to hand a walkover in the last four due to an abdominal injury.
The world number one then soared through the early rounds at the Mutua Madrid Open and reached the quarterfinals with some quality performances, before falling to an on-song Belinda Bencic despite owning a 5-3 lead in the final set. Nonetheless, it was an encouraging performance from Osaka who managed to prove her clay-court credentials.
This week in Rome, Osaka’s start to the campaign experienced a delay due to rain washing out play on Tuesday. Nonetheless, despite being forced to play two matches in a day, the Japanese avoided the upset alert and edged both Dominika Cibulkova and Mihaela Buzarnescu with the loss of just six games in each match.
Bertens, the new queen of clay?
Would you call Bertens the new queen of clay? The Dutchwoman experienced a late career resurgence which saw her rise into the top-10 for the first time in her career at the age of 26, but previously, all her notable achievements came on clay. Bertens’ first WTA finals and titles all came on clay but interestingly, her last three WTA titles came on hard courts. She has evolved into an all-rounded player, but not before reaching the semifinals of Roland Garros in 2016.
Reaching the semifinals in Rome back in 2017 where she lost to finalist Simona Halep, Bertens was the finalist in Madrid last year before going one step further this year. The sixth seed comes into Rome with nothing to defend as she lost in the first round in 2018, although this time she looks to be the protagonist of the clay court chapter on the tour.
Amassing a 12-2 win-loss record on clay thus far, Bertens has been extraordinary on clay. She ironically started the dust season with an early loss in Charleston, though that was played on green clay. She was unable to gather much momentum as eventual champion Petra Kvitova handed her a tough loss in Stuttgart.
Nonetheless, this did not damage Bertens’ confidence as she became the first woman to lift the Mutua Madrid Open trophy without losing a set in the process. Claiming three consecutive top-10 wins over Petra Kvitova, Sloane Stephens, and Simona Halep respectively, Bertens became the highest-ranked Dutchwoman in history as she rose to a new career-high ranking of four.
Bertens was fortunate enough to receive a bye into the second round in Rome as the sixth seed, but was handed a tricky opener as she faced lucky-loser and Bogota champion Amanda Anisimova. Although she was understandably lacklustre, Bertens stepped up during the crucial moments and really played like a true champion — stealing the win even when her opponent was playing so much better.
On the same day, the Madrid champion returned onto Court 6 to compete against Carla Suarez Navarro. Facing a clay-court prodigy, Bertens was forced to dig deep and overcame a mid-match slip-up to prevail in her second three-set match of the day to book a mouth-watering clash with Osaka.
Match Analysis: Can Bertens continue her winning streak?
This will be the only quarterfinal featuring two top-10 players as surprise packages emerged from other quarters. To make it sound more intriguing, this will be a battle between two top-four players.
Their head-to-head series is tied at 1-1 with Bertens prevailing in their last clash albeit through retirement at the 2018 WTA Finals where Osaka was unable to display her best tennis. Osaka won their first and only completed match at the 2016 Abierto Mexicano Telcel although that result should not have a significant impact on this match as both players have evolved through the times.
I would say that the match favourite here has to be Bertens. The rankings may say otherwise, but Bertens has showed her desire to dominate the clay-court season through her strong performances and her determination can be seen through her two three-set triumphs yesterday. The fatigue might be an issue considering the amount of tennis she has played over the past two weeks, but Bertens will triumph with the conditions favouring her style of play.
Osaka fired 44 winners en route to her win over Cibulkova and 27 winners against Buzarnescu, recording a positive (and huge) winner-to-unforced-error ratio in both wins. That could send out warning signals to Bertens, but with the slower surface out on Court Centrale, Bertens comes into the match as the favourite.
Osaka lacks the experience of playing a player of Bertens’ calibre on the clay courts and has never defeated a player ranked higher than 24th on clay. Meanwhile, Bertens has rattled off four top-10 wins on clay in just 2019 alone. The Madrid champion has a decent chance to claim her fifth and move closer towards a third title this year.
Commentaires