adminTOKYO. — Japanese media and tennis fans yesterday rained down the superlatives on tennis stars Kei Nishikori and Naomi Osaka who made history by both reaching the US Open semi-finals.
“There is no stopping the Japanese players,” screamed the Nikkan Gendai tabloid, after the pair became the first from the country to secure semi-final berths in both singles competitions during a Grand Slam.
Particular praise was heaped on 20-year-old Osaka, who became the first Japanese woman to get into the top four at the US Open.
The last Japanese woman to achieve a Grand Slam semi-final was Kimiko Date at Wimbledon in 1996 – a year before Osaka was born.
“Osaka was in full throttle from the start,” Nikkan Sports said in its digital edition, reviewing her 6-1, 6-1 quarter-final victory over Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko. — AFP
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