Second seed Naomi Osaka of Japan will take on the seventh seed Elise Mertens of Belgium in the second semifinal of the Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne on Saturday, February 6, with the match likely to begin at around 2:30 pm local time (8:30 am Eastern Time). Get the live streaming options of this Naomi Osaka v Elise Mertens match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Naomi Osaka v Elise Mertens Head to Head
Osaka leads 2-1 head to head. While Mertens won the first contest in three sets in Wuhan four years ago, the Japanese won the next two (in Osaka 2019 and New York 2020). Both of Osaka’s wins came in semifinals and on both the occasions the Japanese needed just two sets to beat the Belgian.
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Osaka’s Win Streak Continues
World No. 3 Naomi Osaka stormed into the semifinals of Gippsland Trophy after a straightforward 7-5, 6-1 win over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu in a quarterfinal on Friday.
The Japanese, seeded second in the competition, struck seven aces and 22 winners, made just 11 unforced errors and converted 4 of 6 break points, while saving 2 of 3 to win her first-ever match against the 30-year-old Romanian in an hour and 16 minutes.
The 2020 U.S. Open champion hasn’t been beaten on court since her shock defeat to Sara Sorribes Tormo in the Fed Cup qualifiers last February. She did reach the final of the Cincinnati Open but pulled out with a hamstring injury without taking the court.
A three-time major champion, Osaka, playing her first tournament of the year, has looked in decent touch this week as she notched her third win of the tournament on Friday.
Getting a bye in the first round, the 23-year-old had earlier this week defeated Alize Cornet of France 6-2, 6-2 in the second round and then had to fight from a set down to beat Britain’s Katie Boulter 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the third round.
Osaka has looked good in the buildup to the Australian Open and will be looking to carry this form over the next two weeks as she chases her second major in Melbourne, having won her maiden title there in 2019.
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Mertens Battles Past Svitolina
Seventh seed Elise Mertens of Belgium edged out third seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in an up and down match which needed a match tiebreaker to separate the two.
The Belgian, who had squandered three match points to allow the Ukrainian back in the contest, finally closed out the contest 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 in an hour and 56 minutes.
Ranked 20th in the world, the 25-year-old has played some solid tennis this week, which included straight set wins over Japan’s Mayo Hibi in the second round and France’s Caroline Garcia in the Round of 16.
A 2018 Australian Open semifinalist, Mertens is coming off a pretty good 2020, which saw her finish runner-up in Prague and Linz and reach the semifinals of the Cincinnati Open along with a host of other quarterfinals. She also made it to the last eight of the U.S. Open for the second consecutive year.
Osaka v Mertens Prediction and Tip
Osaka is in red-hot form and should take another step towards her seventh WTA title on Saturday. Mertens, meanwhile, would be exhausted after the draining quarterfinal win over Svitolina and it will be interesting to see how it affects her tomorrow.
Tip: Osaka to win: 8/15 (bet365)
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The 2021 WTA Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne will be played from January 31. You can watch & bet on the these matches here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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