\n
auckland<\/strong>
Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka reached her first WTA semifinal in nearly three years after a 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal win over Hailey Baptiste at the ASB Classic on Friday. Osaka endured two rain interruptions during the match and eliminated rising American Baptist after 2 hours and 2 minutes of play.<\/p>\nThe Japanese player reached her first tour-level semi-final since returning from maternity leave 12 months ago. The last time she reached the last four or better at a WTA event, she was the runner-up at the 2022 Miami, where she lost to Iga Swiatek. She made two quarterfinals last year (Doha and ‘s-Hertogenbosch).<\/p>\n
\u201cI think my main focus was just having a lot of belief and confidence in myself,\u201d Osaka said on the court after the win. I think I worked very hard throughout the last year, and even though the results didn’t show it, I think I’ll just keep trying, I guess, as hard as I can and see where it takes me. Is.”<\/p>\n
Osaka continued her dominance in the final set, with her 10th and final ace of the day leading to her first match point. Osaka booked her place in the final four for the first time since giving birth to daughter Shai in 2023.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
aucklandFormer world No. 1 Naomi Osaka reached her first WTA semifinal in nearly three years after a 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal win over Hailey Baptiste at the ASB Classic on Friday. Osaka endured two rain interruptions during the match and eliminated rising American Baptist after 2 hours and 2 minutes of play. The Japanese player […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thekhabars.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-37330","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n
Osaka in WTA semi-finals for the first time since 2022 - News Timers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Osaka in WTA semi-finals for the first time since 2022 - News Timers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"aucklandFormer world No. 1 Naomi Osaka reached her first WTA semifinal in nearly three years after a 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal win over Hailey Baptiste at the ASB Classic on Friday. Osaka endured two rain interruptions during the match and eliminated rising American Baptist after 2 hours and 2 minutes of play. The Japanese player […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News Timers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-04T04:07:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thekhabars.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg\" \/><meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thekhabars.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"470\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"newstimers.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thekhabars.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"newstimers.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"newstimers.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eedb09e776755c468967c45aea40c71d\"},\"headline\":\"Osaka in WTA semi-finals for the first time since 2022\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-04T04:07:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":218,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i2.wp.com\\\/thekhabars.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/\",\"name\":\"Osaka in WTA semi-finals for the first time since 2022 - News Timers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i2.wp.com\\\/thekhabars.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-04T04:07:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eedb09e776755c468967c45aea40c71d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i2.wp.com\\\/thekhabars.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i2.wp.com\\\/thekhabars.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1\",\"width\":780,\"height\":470},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/01\\\/04\\\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Osaka in WTA semi-finals for the first time since 2022\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"News Timers\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/eedb09e776755c468967c45aea40c71d\",\"name\":\"newstimers.com\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/eaeb390f9d988b6e37b361c9a0127b35.jpg?ver=1776602818\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/eaeb390f9d988b6e37b361c9a0127b35.jpg?ver=1776602818\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/wp-content\\\/litespeed\\\/avatar\\\/eaeb390f9d988b6e37b361c9a0127b35.jpg?ver=1776602818\",\"caption\":\"newstimers.com\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/newstimers.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/newstimers-com\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Osaka in WTA semi-finals for the first time since 2022 - News Timers","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Osaka in WTA semi-finals for the first time since 2022 - News Timers","og_description":"aucklandFormer world No. 1 Naomi Osaka reached her first WTA semifinal in nearly three years after a 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal win over Hailey Baptiste at the ASB Classic on Friday. Osaka endured two rain interruptions during the match and eliminated rising American Baptist after 2 hours and 2 minutes of play. The Japanese player […]","og_url":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/","og_site_name":"News Timers","article_published_time":"2025-01-04T04:07:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/thekhabars.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""},{"width":780,"height":470,"url":"https:\/\/thekhabars.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"newstimers.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/thekhabars.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"newstimers.com","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/"},"author":{"name":"newstimers.com","@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eedb09e776755c468967c45aea40c71d"},"headline":"Osaka in WTA semi-finals for the first time since 2022","datePublished":"2025-01-04T04:07:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/"},"wordCount":218,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thekhabars.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/","url":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/","name":"Osaka in WTA semi-finals for the first time since 2022 - News Timers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thekhabars.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1","datePublished":"2025-01-04T04:07:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eedb09e776755c468967c45aea40c71d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thekhabars.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/thekhabars.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/osaka-1-780x470.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1","width":780,"height":470},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/04\/osaka-in-wta-semi-finals-for-the-first-time-since-2022\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Osaka in WTA semi-finals for the first time since 2022"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/","name":"News Timers","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/eedb09e776755c468967c45aea40c71d","name":"newstimers.com","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/eaeb390f9d988b6e37b361c9a0127b35.jpg?ver=1776602818","url":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/eaeb390f9d988b6e37b361c9a0127b35.jpg?ver=1776602818","contentUrl":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/wp-content\/litespeed\/avatar\/eaeb390f9d988b6e37b361c9a0127b35.jpg?ver=1776602818","caption":"newstimers.com"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/newstimers.com"],"url":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/author\/newstimers-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newstimers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}