As Naomi Osaka’s 23-match successful streak neared an finish, she paused earlier than serving to crane her neck and examine the sky, as if in search of intervention from above.
Then she carried on, and so did No. 23-seeded Maria Sakkari, who upset Osaka 6-0, 6-4 within the quarterfinals of the Miami Open.
“The more stuff like this happens, the more I’ll learn from it,” the No. 2-ranked Osaka stated.
The defeat was her first since February 2020, and it ended any probability of reclaiming the No. 1 rating this week from Ash Barty, who’s within the semifinals.
Sakkari will subsequent play No. 8-seeded Bianca Andreescu of Canada, who dropped serve eight occasions however nonetheless outlasted unseeded Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
“I’m super proud of how I handled it tonight, because it wasn’t easy,” Andreescu stated.
“My body was giving out, and then my mind gave out at one point, because I was just thinking about how tired I was.”
The different girls’s semifinal Thursday will pit No. 1-seeded Ash Barty in opposition to No. 5 Elina Svitolina.
Osaka gained her fourth Grand Slam title on the Australian Open in February, however in 5 Miami appearances she has by no means superior past the quarterfinals. She stated couldn’t get comfy on the event’s hard-court floor.
“I felt like I haven’t been playing well this whole tournament, like I couldn’t find a groove,” she stated.
Against Sakkari, the one Greek girl ranked within the prime 250, Osaka misplaced 15 consecutive factors on her serve to fall behind and blew a 4-1 lead within the second set. She confronted a break level on seven of her eight service video games.
“Today’s service problems kind of came out of nowhere,” Osaka stated. “My first serve wasn’t going in at all today.”
Sakkari earned her sixth profession win over a top-five opponent. She’s nonetheless within the event solely as a result of she saved six match factors within the earlier spherical earlier than beating American Jessica Pegula.
In males’s play, 19-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner earned his first semifinal berth in an ATP Tour top-level occasion by beating No. 32-seeded Alexander Bublik 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Bublik smiled as he congratulated the No. 21-seeded Sinner on the web.
“You’re not a human, man,” Bublik joked.
“You’re 15 years old and you play like this? Good job.”
Osaka made simply 41% of her first serves and paid a value, as a result of Sakkari aggressively attacked the second set. Sakkari additionally served effectively and would repeatedly lengthen rallies till Osaka made an error.
“I don’t think it was the best tennis I played in my life,” Sakkari stated.
“I just did what I had to do.”
Osaka took a 40-0 lead within the opening sport, however didn’t win one other level on her serve till the second set. When she ended the drought, she acquired an enormous ovation from the small crowd, which she adopted up along with her greatest stretch of tennis.
But Sakkari rallied. From 40-0 down she gained 5 consecutive factors, hitting one final thunderous return to interrupt for a 5-4 lead. She then coolly served out the victory.
“I just really enjoyed myself out there,” Sakkari stated.