Naomi Osaka of Japan waits for the serve during a women\u2019s singles match against Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy on day five of the Mubadala DC Open 2026 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center on July 31, 2026 in Washington, DC. Emilee Chinn\/Getty Images\/AFP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
WASHINGTON\u2013Women\u2019s top seed Jessica Pegula and third seed Naomi Osaka reached the semifinals of the 2026 Mubadala DC Open after separate wins on Friday.<\/p>\n
Pegula, who won her first profession WTA title at Washington in 2019, eliminated Twentieth-ranked Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 7-5, to succeed in her sixth WTA semi-final of the 12 months.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the reason that starting of the 12 months I\u2019m finding more confidence in matches hitting different spots,\u201d Pegula said. \u201cI used to be specializing in that quite a bit today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pegula will play for a berth in the ultimate against fourth seed Diana Shnaider, who ousted Russian compatriot Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-4.<\/p>\n
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, rallied to eliminate Italy\u2019s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 after two hours and 11 minutes.<\/p>\n
World number 13 Osaka next faces either Ukraine\u2019s second-seeded Elina Svitolina or Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the primary set, I had low energy and I kept attempting to pump myself up but something was just a little flat,\u201d Osaka said. \u201cWithin the second, I just wanted to provide it my best shot though I wasn\u2019t playing too good.\u201d<\/p>\n
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![\"Jessica](\"https:\/\/sports.inquirer.net\/files\/2026\/08\/AFP__20260731__2288483327__v1__HighRes__MubadalaCitiDcOpen2026Day5-scaled.jpg\")
\n<\/picture>\nJessica Pegula of the US hugs Anna Kalinskaya after a women\u2019s singles match on day five of the Mubadala DC Open 2026 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center on July 31, 2026 in Washington, DC. Emilee Chinn\/Getty Images\/AFP\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Pegula seeks her twelfth profession WTA crown and third of the 12 months after triumphs in Dubai and Charleston.<\/p>\n
She broke within the fourth game and held from there to take the primary set in 37 minutes then broke within the eleventh game of the second set and held at like to advance.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Osaka was undone by 18 unforced errors, thrice as many as her rival, in dropping the primary set after 41 minutes.<\/p>\n
She reached a 3rd set when Cocciaretto double-faulted away a break within the tenth game of set two.<\/p>\n
Osaka hit a backhand winner to interrupt within the second game of the ultimate set and held from there.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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Naomi Osaka of Japan waits for the serve during a women\u2019s singles match against Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy on day five of the Mubadala DC Open 2026 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center on July 31, 2026 in Washington, DC. Emilee Chinn\/Getty Images\/AFP WASHINGTON\u2013Women\u2019s top seed Jessica Pegula and third seed Naomi Osaka reached the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":375060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[2637,2634,1162,1611,1574,1612,53004,3000],"class_list":["post-375059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-berths","tag-book","tag-jessica","tag-naomi","tag-open","tag-osaka","tag-pegula","tag-semifinal"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t