Things are looking up for Naomi Osaka on grass. Just days before Wimbledon, the former World No. 1 has reached the first grass-court final of her career at the Bad Homburg Open. Achieving a career first after so many years on tour has given Osaka a renewed sense of satisfaction. Regardless of the result in tomorrow’s final, she has said she is happy with the progress she has made.
Saturday’s final offers Osaka the chance to win her eighth career title and her first tour-level crown as a mother.
Naomi Osaka Opens Up About the Significance of Reaching the Bad Homburg Final
Following her fourth-round defeat to Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open, Osaka resumed her campaign this week on the grass courts of Bad Homburg. Seeded sixth, the Japanese star opened her run with a 6-4, 6-1 win against Magdalena Fręch. She then secured a promising 6-3, 6-3 victory against Elise Mertens before dominating Ekaterina Alexandrova with a 6-2, 6-2 score in the quarterfinal.
Although she secured a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 semifinal victory over Wang Xinyu on Friday, Naomi Osaka admitted that she felt her quarterfinal display was the stronger of the two.
“I’m a little bit of a harsh critic on myself, so I wouldn’t really say I’d played well. I think I stuck it out pretty good, but, playing-wise, I feel like I played better yesterday,” she told the WTA.
About making her first grass-court final as a 28-year-old, Osaka said, “It’s funny to still be doing milestones at my old age, but yeah, for me, it’s really fun and I’m really happy.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion faces Karolína Muchová in Saturday’s final. Seeded fourth, Muchová received a first-round bye and has played one fewer match than Osaka en route to the title clash. The latter holds a 3-2 head-to-head advantage over the Czech star and prevailed in both of their Grand Slam encounters in 2025.
At the Bad Homburg Open, Osaka is chasing her first tour-level title since the 2021 Australian Open. However, she insists she is not focused on the outcome even though a victory would add another significant achievement to her already illustrious résumé.
“I mean, I don’t really mind regardless.”
Since her 2021 triumph in Melbourne, Naomi Osaka has reached four tour-level finals, three of which have come after her daughter’s birth. And she does not want to overlook last year’s WTA Challenger title on clay at the Open de Saint-Malo, even though it does not count in her official tour-level title tally.
“And I know people don’t count it, but I won a clay tournament. For me, that meant a lot because it was on clay and obviously this one (in Bad Homburg) will mean a lot because it’s on grass and those are surfaces that I haven’t won on before. So in that regard, it would mean a lot.”
“But otherwise, I just came here with the goal of playing matches before Wimbledon, and I was able to accomplish that. So, you know, hopefully I win one more tomorrow,” she added.
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After her final in Germany, Osaka will head to SW19, where she opens her Wimbledon campaign against France’s Elsa Jacquemot.
