Tennis
Naomi Osaka did not let her protest against racism and police violence in the USA disturb her rhythm. The 2018 US Open winner moved into the final at the WTA Premier tournament, which was moved from Cincinnati to New York, with a 6: 2 7: 6 (7/5) over Elise Mertens (BEL / 14). In the final, the ex-number one now meets another ex-number one: Viktoria Asarenka.
28.08.2020 20.23
August 28, 2020, 8:23 p.m.
(Update: August 29, 2020, 0.24 a.m.)
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The unseeded Belarusian won the second semi-final against the number eight British Johanna Konta with 4: 6 6: 4 6: 1. In the first round of the US Open, Asarenka is opponent of Upper Austrian Barbara Haas, who slipped into the main competition thanks to many rejections. The winner collects $ 285,000 and the finalist $ 153,000.
Osaka had announced on Wednesday because of the protests in US sports against racism and police violence that they would not play against Mertens. At the dress rehearsal for the US Open on Thursday, all games were canceled.
“I’m really glad I got to a pretty good level,” said Osaka, who said the past 48 hours had been stressful for her. “I’m also glad that I didn’t go down mentally.” She related the latter to a deficit in the much narrower second set.
Djokovic fights his way into the final
In the men’s category, Novak Djokovic made it into the final with a hard-fought 4: 6 6: 4 7: 6 (7/0) victory against the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut. The final opponent on Saturday is the Canadian Milos Raonic, who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 7: 6 (7/5) 6: 3.
Djokovic had to overcome many hurdles on the way to his 22nd match win in a row on the ATP tour and also had to put up with a set deficit. In the decisive tie-break of the third set, the 33-year-old world number one was in a class of his own, not leaving a single point for the number eight seeded Bautista Agut. After just under three hours, the triumph was fixed.
Djokovic increased head-to-head to 9: 3. His record against Raonic is even better, as he was able to do all ten previous duels with the ranking 30. decide for yourself. The best conditions for his last game before the start of the US Open, which will be played on the same course in Flushing Meadows.
WTA Premier Tournament in New York
(U.S., $ 2,250,829 hard court)
ATP 1,000 tournament in New York
(U.S., $ 4,674,780 hard court)
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