2020 WTA Miami Open fantasy tennis: Barty and Osaka to battle it out in final
GRAND Slam winners, Ash Barty and Naomi Osaka will contest the 2020 WTA Miami Open fantasy tennis final after huge wins over quality opponents in the semi-finals. Barty knocked out third seed and Australian Open champion, Sofia Kenin in straight sets 6-3 6-1, while Osaka obliterated giant-killer, Qiang Wang 6-2 6-0.
Both matches took less than 90 minutes to complete, with Barty the slightly longer of the two in an hour and 26 minutes, while Osaka raced through her match in just 64 minutes. The Australian top seed made her way through to her second successive Miami Open final as the reigning champion after playing some of the best tennis she has all year. While she claimed the title in Adelaide back in January, she was knocked out by Kenin in the semis at Melbourne Park. The world number one reversed the result in this semi-final however, not even giving the talented up-and-coming American a chance of victory.
Osaka was similarly brutal and even more so in many regards, running away with a massive victory over Qiang, who had previously knocked out the likes of 2019 Miami Open finalist and second seed, Karolina Pliskova. While her run to the semis was superb, it just was not the 26th seed’s day, bowing out in a disappointing loss. It allowed Osaka a chance to win her first Miami Open title after bowing out in a shock loss to Hsieh Su-Wei last year in the third round.
In terms of head-to-heads, Barty and Osaka sit at two apiece. The Japanese top 10 knocked off Barty in three sets last year in Beijing, after the Australian had won the previous clash in the Nottingham semi-final back in 2018, a title Barty went on to win. Osaka has only won the five singles titles, but two of those are Grand Slams and a third being Indian Wells. She has only lost two previous finals, both in her home nation. Barty has reached 13 finals, winning eight of them including the 2019 Miami Open, which she hopes to retain this year.
SEMI-FINALS RESULTS:
[1] Ash Barty (AUS) defeated [3] Sofia Kenin (USA) 6-3 6-1
[9] Naomi Osaka (JPN) defeated [26] Qiang Wang (CHN) 6-2 6-0
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