World number four, Naomi Osaka cruised to victory in the semi-finals of the Toray Pan Pacific Open on Saturday to secure her place in the finals held in her home city, Osaka.

The two-time Grand Slam winner scored a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Belgium's Elise Mertens, her second win of the day after outclassing Yulia Putintseva in straight sets. 

The top-seeded athlete, Osaka commented, “hardcourt is where I feel most comfortable” following the victory from Putintseva. She also acknowledged her home soil advantage after sealing the win in 6-4, 6-4 to power her way through to the semi-final.

On the back of two straight-set wins, Osaka, 21 now reaches her third final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, having previously finished runner-up to Caroline Wozniacki and Karolina Pliskova in 2016 and 2018 when the tournament was held in Tokyo.

Osaka, currently coached by her father Leonard François, will now face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, 28 for the title in her home city.

Pavlyuchenkova also showed no signs of fatigue as she won two matches on the day to reach her first final of the year.

The Toray Pan Pacific Open title clash is set to delight the home crowd on the 22nd of September, 04:00 AM UK time.