Osaka one win from first grass-court final after Bad Homburg victory

Naomi Osaka is a match away from her first grass-court final after a dominant straight-sets win over Ekaterina Alexandrova at the Bad Homburg Open. With a 6-2, 6-2 victory in 59 minutes, Osaka set up a semifinal against Wang Xinyu, after converting four of sev

Naomi Osaka walked into the Bad Homburg stadium knowing she was close to something she hadn’t yet tasted on grass—her first career trip to a grass-court final. By Thursday, she’d made that path shorter.

In a dominant straight-sets win over Ekaterina Alexandrova, Osaka won 6-2, 6-2 in just 59 minutes. Alexandrova—who had upset Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva in the previous round—got the match moving with the first break of the day. taking a 2-1 lead in the opening set. Then Osaka flipped the momentum with a surge that didn’t leave much room for doubt: she broke serve three consecutive times to close the set 6-2 as part of an eight-game winning streak.

The second set looked like it belonged to Osaka from start to finish. She stayed composed, stayed aggressive, and closed it out again 6-2, 6-2, extending her pressure until the scoreline settled the contest.

The victory carried more than one kind of meaning for Osaka. It delivered what she described as a step forward on a surface where she has had to learn more quickly than usual.

It was her first career top-20 win on grass. The opponent—Alexandrova. ranked 19th—made it a milestone match in a category where Osaka’s record had previously leaned against her. She entered the match with 49 career wins against top-20 players. but on grass she had lost all eight of her previous meetings against top-20 opponents.

The result also moved Osaka into her first semifinal of the season. It was her first semifinal since the 2025 U.S. Open. Bad Homburg itself is a rare stage for her late-round grass progress: she has reached the semifinals of a tour-level grass-court event only for the second time in her career. The previous one came in Nottingham in 2018, when she lost to Ash Barty.

After her win, Osaka framed it as momentum built through intent and practice. “I think I just keep trying to move forward and I have a goal of wanting to play a lot of matches before I did it. so hopefully I can keep going. ” Osaka said. “Obviously I can’t say that I’ve had much experience on grass, but I feel really good right now. Tomas (coach) is helping me understand grass a lot more, so I feel pretty comfortable at this point.”.

What separated the 25-year-old’s performance on Thursday was the way she turned chances into control. Osaka converted four of the seven break points she earned on Alexandrova’s serve. On her own serve, she faced only two break points and saved one of them.

Her serving played a clear role in that control as well. She struck seven aces in the win—matching the ace count from her previous-round victory over Elise Mertens. With Thursday’s performance added in, Osaka has totaled 15 aces for the tournament.

Now comes the semifinal that puts her one win away from a first grass-court final: Osaka will face China’s Wang Xinyu. Wang advanced after receiving a walkover from Elina Svitolina, who withdrew with a right hip injury. The semifinal will also be the first career meeting between Osaka and Wang.

For Osaka, Bad Homburg has turned into a rare kind of moment—close to a milestone she’s known she didn’t yet own, but now building toward it match by match.

Naomi Osaka Ekaterina Alexandrova Bad Homburg Open grass-court final Wang Xinyu semifinals top-20 win aces break points