Birrell is into the semifinals of the primary WTA | 19 October, 2024 | All Information | Information and Options | Information and Occasions
Together with her fifth straight win on the WTA event in Osaka, Queensland’s Kimberly Birrell made a profession milestone.
Osaka, Japan, 19 October 2024 | Matt Trollope
Kimberly Birrell continued her spectacular kind in Japan, advancing to the semifinals of the WTA occasion in Osaka.
Birrell, a qualifier, beat Japanese wild card Sara Saito 7-5 6-4 to say her fifth straight win on the 250-ranked onerous court docket event.
He recovered from 5-2 down within the opening recreation to make it 5 in a row, then was damaged late within the second set earlier than ending the match.
The journey continues 💫@kimbirrell98 he is in his first semi-final after defeating Saito in Osaka!#KinoshitaJOTennis pic.twitter.com/h2PfGGFAAe
— wta (@WTA) October 18, 2024
This was the 26-year-old’s first look in a tour-level quarterfinal, however the first time he progressed previous that time to succeed in a singles semifinal.
There he’ll face his teammate Aoi Ito, additionally from Japan.
“This felt good,” Birrell wrote on his Instagram story as he shared a clip of his game-winning level. “We’ll want extra tomorrow!!”
On an incredible day for Australia, Birrell’s win got here on the identical time one other Aussie, Aleksandar Vukic, superior to the ATP semi-finals in Almaty, Kazakhstan with a heartbreaking victory over No.1 seed Frances Tiafoe.
Osaka is a event the place the draw is huge open; three of the 4 semi-finalists are qualifiers, the one remaining being quantity 7 Diana Parry of France.
The final time Birrell received 5 matches in a row was in Could of this yr, when he received the W75 ITF title in Fukuoka.
One of many gamers who beat him on his technique to this title is Ito, who he’ll face once more on Saturday afternoon.
On the time he was ranked quantity 182 on the planet, however along with his success this week in Osaka, he’s anticipated to climb to quantity 121.
He reached No.100 on the planet in September final yr.
Birrell improves his 2024 profitable file to 38-25.
