Naomi Osaka Finally “At Peace” With Herself After Reaching the Canadian Open Semi-Final in Montreal

Naomi Osaka is into her first Canadian Open semi-final after beating Elina Svitolina in straight sets.

Naomi Osaka Finally “At Peace” With Herself After Reaching the Canadian Open Semi-Final in Montreal

Naomi Osaka (image via National Bank Open)

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For the past few months, Naomi Osaka has often left a heartbreaking message on social media after each loss, but at the Canadian Open, she has finally found peace in her game on the court. That’s due to her excellent performance against Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals as she earned her first WTA 1000 semi-finals slot of the season.

The former Australian Open champion has certainly discovered her form in Montreal as she dropped only four games against Svitolina at the Canadian Open. She wasn’t the favorite going into the match and not among those who were major contenders for the title before the tournament began, but after her 6-2, 6-2 victory over the Ukrainian star that has changed.

The Japanese star needed just an hour and eight minutes to beat the former Canadian Open champion Svitolina and then secure her place in the tournament semi-final for the first time in her career. She also extended her head-to-head record win over the 30-year-old to 5-3, having won their last three meetings.

During her press conference, she revealed that she feels happier every time she wins on the court. The Auckland Open runners-up added that the last time she felt this level of happiness was at the Australian Open in January:

I truly feel happier when I win matches, but this is the reality of an athlete. However, I also believe that I win because I am now happier, it’s a mutual reinforcement. It’s hard to comprehend, but I feel more at peace with myself in terms of what I expect from this part of the season. I haven’t felt this way since the Australian Open because there are tournaments where I know I will be confident and give my best performance.

Osaka dropped only one set at the Canadian Open and that came against 13th seed Liudmila Samsonova in the second round. The former World No.1 beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-4 and unseeded Anastasija Sevastova 6-1, 6-0 in the round of 16, and now Svitolina in the quarter-finals.

These results are coming just days after she appointed Iga Swiatek’s former coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, as her new coach on a trial basis. She parted ways with Patrick Mouratoglou after the Washington Open, ending their ten-month collaboration, but her partnership with Wiktorowski now appears to be working wonders.

Naomi Osaka says having low self-confidence engineered her run at the Canadian Open

Naomi Osaka is now set to break into the top 30 following her run at the Canadian Open. She arrived at the WTA 1000 tournament as World No.48 in the WTA rankings, but after five wins she’s expected to rise 19 places and will become the World No.29 when the rankings are updated next week. If she does reach the final, she’s expected to rise further.

Naomi Osaka Canadian Open 2025
Naomi Osaka (image via National Bank Open)

She revealed during the aforementioned press conference that she’s happy to reach the semi-finals of the Canadian Open, before adding that she let go of her expectations on the court after the Wimbledon Championships:

I’m very happy and excited. It’s interesting because after Wimbledon, I felt very disappointed, so I just went with the flow and let go of all expectations I might have had for myself, and here we are now. It’s ironic, but I’m happy about it. I just keep a lot of self-confidence and know that I’m in good physical shape.

Osaka will now face Clara Tauson in the semi-finals of the Canadian Open. It will be their second meeting on tour, with their first ending in a sad way as Osaka was forced to retire due to abdominal injury despite winning the first set 6-4. That led to the Danish star winning the Auckland Open title in January.

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