Japan's Naomi Osaka reached the semifinals of the Miami Open for the first time in her career when she beat ninth seed and home favorite Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-1 in a quarterfinal clash on Tuesday.
Osaka made just three unforced errors against the 11th-ranked American who has been dealing with a neck injury and needed a medical timeout during the match. The Japanese fired 13 aces to roll through her service games under the Hard Rock Stadium lights.
"I'm glad I was able to get through it quickly. I focused on trying to get a lot of really good returns," Osaka said.
"This is actually also my first night match, so I didn't know what the conditions would be like."
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion who is currently ranked 77th in the world, had never advanced past the quarterfinals in Miami.
Her victory sets up a women's singles semifinal clash with Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, who is ranked 28th, on Thursday. Bencic won the Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games last summer.
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