TOKYO—Fourth-seeded Karolina Pliskova beat Naomi Osaka, 6-4, 6-4, on Sunday to win the Pan Pacific Open and deny the US Open champion a win in her home country.
Osaka, who upset Serena Williams in the final in New York, hadn’t dropped a set previous to Sunday’s final and was frustrated from the outset by the big-serving Czech player.
Pliskova broke Osaka for a second time to go up 5-4 in the second set and then hammered her sixth ace to secure her 11th career title.
Pliskova needed three dramatic sets in each of her matches to reach her second final of the season.
“I was just happy it didn’t go to a third set,” Pliskova said. “Naomi was playing so good all tournament, but I think she was a little bit tired today.”
The frustration was evident when Osaka double faulted in the ninth game of the second set to set up Pliskova’s second break. The 20-year-old tossed her racket to the ground before collecting her composure, but it was too late.
It was the second time Osaka came up short in the tournament. Two years ago, Osaka lost in the final to Caroline Wozniacki, this year’s top-seeded player who was eliminated by Camila Giorgi in the second round.
In Chicago, John Isner, the tall American with the blistering serve, has added a new role in the last week. He’s a dad.
His wife gave birth a week ago to their first child, a daughter, an experience Isner described as “the best moment of my life for sure.”
Being separated this week while he competes in the Laver Cup has been difficult.
Isner said he received a picture on his phone of his daughter watching him play for the first time.
“I don’t think she will remember it,” he joked. “My wife is changing her diaper, and I’m on the TV.”
He’s going to skip upcoming tournaments in Asia to be a family man.
“It’s been super tough being away right now,” he said. “I certainly miss my daughter incredibly much right now.”
He’s also hoping that his family will be able to travel with him next year.
“We’ll see how that goes,” he said. “It’s going to be an adjustment.”
Isner’s career has been on the upswing at age 33. He won his first Masters 1000 title at Miami, beating Alexander Zverev in the finals. And later he reached the Wimbledon semifinals, losing a nearly seven-hour-long marathon to Kevin Anderson, who is his teammate this week on Team World.
Isner had a difficult loss on Saturday in the Laver Cup, falling to Zverez, who rallied for a 3-6, 7-6, 10-7 victory.
Roger Federer then beat Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 6-2 to give Team Europe a 7-1 lead in the team competition at the United Center.
But in the night session, Anderson downed Wimbledon and US Open champion Novak Djokovic, 7-6, 5-7, (10-6), to cut the lead to 7-3. Anderson, who played at the University of Illinois, lost the Wimbledon final to Djokovic.
The doubles team of Kyrgios and Jack Sock brought Team World to within 7-5 with a 6-3, 6-4 win over David Goffin and Grigor Dimitrov in the final match of the night.
The finals are on Sunday with one doubles and three singles scheduled.
Image credits: AP