Former World No 1 Naomi Osaka will meet Bianca Andreescu in the Libéma Open ’s-Hertogenbosch quarter-finals in the Netherlands, after both advanced in straight sets on Wednesday, while much of the draw played catch-up to complete the remaining 2nd-round of matches, delayed due to rain interruptions over the first few days.
Naomi Osaka comfortably defeated Dutch wild-card Suzan Lamens, 6-2 6-2, and Andreescu upset 6th-seeded Yuan Yue of China, 6-4 6-4, to set up a Last 8 contest between the two.
Coming off an outstanding opening-round win over Belgian 4th seed Elise Mertens, Osaka continued her confident start to the grass season by blowing past Lamens in just 54 minutes.
The first set went on serve until the 6th game, both players struggling to adapt to blustery conditions, before Osaka took the initiative, breaking the Dutchwoman’s serve with a series of powerful drives off both wings. More errors in the next Dutch service game handed the Japanese the first set after only 26 minutes, and Osaka also proved too strong for her opponent at the start of the second as well, breaking her first service game with a string of winners to race into a 3-0 lead, and then wrapped the match up when Lamens dumped another groundstroke into the net.
Despite serving at just 39%, the Japanese 4-time Grand Slam champion landed 9 aces and did not face a break point in the match, while she finished with 21 winners to 13 unforced errors, converting 4 of her 5 break-point chances.
Osaka has yet to make it past the 3rd-round on the Wimbledon grass, but appears to be gradually coming back to the form that took her to World No 1.
Her latest win sets up a marquee quarter-final match-up against Andreescu on Friday, in a contest that pits the 2018 US Open champion against the 2019 US Open champion in just their second career meeting.
It will be Osaka’s first quarter-final since the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in February, and her first on grass since Nottingham in 2018.
Osaka won the only prior meeting against the Canadian, which came in the 2019 China Open quarter-finals, when the reigning Australian Open champion came from a set down to win 5-7 6-3 6-4, and ending the reigning US Open champion’s 17-match win streak.
In just her second tournament back from a 9-month injury layoff, Andreescu has advanced to her first Hologic WTA Tour quarter-final in over a year, and her first on grass since 2022.
A win over Andreescu would put Osaka into her first semi-final of the season, as well as on the verge of a return to the Top 100 from her current ranking of 125 in the world.
Andreescu had to save 5 of 6 break points in her match against Yuan on Wednesday, and also weathered a rain delay to win after an hour and 21 minutes of play.
Learning to love the grass, the Canadian has found the turf’s quick, variable conditions suit her game just as well as hard courts.
Playing in her second event of the year, the Canadian returned at the French Open after sustaining a back injury at the National Bank Open in Montreal last August.
In Paris, Andreescu made it to the 3rd round, where she lost to eventual finalist Jasmine Paolini in 3 sets, and the 23-year-old had acquitted herself well.
Also on Wednesday, Belgium’s Greet Minnen eliminated 7th-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia, 6-1 0-6 7-5, to also advance into the quarters, where she will meet 2nd-seeded Liudmila Samsonova from Russia, who beat Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck, 6-1 6-3, to reach the Last 16.
Qualifier Robin Montgomery notched the 4th Top 50 win of her career with a 3-set upset of No 8 seed Magda Linette Poland in a 1st-round match which had been suspended overnight at 5-5 in the third set.
