Osaka apologises over ’emotional’ win

Kyle Edmund Hits Semifinals
US Open champion, Naomi Osaka, apologised to Zhang Shuai for an emotional display in beating the Chinese in Beijing.The 20-year-old Japanese was close to tears at points in her 3-6 6-4 7-5 win in the China Open quarter-finals.

Osaka wept in the wake of her US Open win, overshadowed by Serena Williams’ confrontation with umpire Carlos Ramos, and was again facing a crowd favourite.”I was basically apologising because I feel I was more emotional than I normally try to be,” said Osaka.

Asked the cause of her emotion, she said: “Because it was a hard match. That’s basically why.”Unseeded Zhang took advantage of a string of early errors to take the first set and was a break up in the second before being reeled in by world number six Osaka, who will play Latvia’s unseeded Anastasija Sevastova in the next round.

Meanwhile, British number one, Kyle Edmund, reached the semi-finals of the China Open with a straight-set victory over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic. The fifth seed, 23, came through against the qualifier 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

He will face unseeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, the world number 34, who beat Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-2 6-2.Top seed Juan Martin del Potro also progressed, beating Filip Krajinovic of Serbia 6-3 6-0 to set up a last-four tie with Italy’s Fabio Fognini. Fourth seed Fognini beat Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-4 6-4.