There may have been many goals and aspirations that Naomi Osaka had as she entered the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open. She naturally wanted to do well, and who doesn't? She didn't want to lose her number one ranking and she wanted to win over opponents who she'd never defeated as much as they did with her. She turns around and lands in the quarterfinal with Belinda Bencic. She lost to her at Indian Wells of this year and wanted badly to win this one. Bencic ranked no. 18 has experienced an elevated career of winning over better-ranked players than herself. She's already defeated Petra Kvitova in Dubai winning the title and in the same tournament won over Aryna Sabalenka, Elina Svitolina and Simona Halep. Bencic has become a threat to the WTA and Osaka knew of this, raising her nervousness just another pitch higher. But the opening set went well for Osaka as she led 3 to 1. Bencic started getting her game together being more aggressive and keeping Osaka back to the baseline. The young Swiss added two more games to even up the score at 3-all. But it was Osaka who prevailed closing out the first set 6-3 in 35 minutes. She admitted that she was confident in the opening set but the second set she started making unforced errors which disturbed her focus and determination. This was obvious, for she had become distracted and lost the second set 2-6. There were times in the deciding set that Osaka stayed focused, produced good shots and strategies to lead 5-4. The young Japanese almost had the match in her hands then Bencic proved the more aggressive and fluid player. She had no impinging thoughts swirling but to play well and she did. She clipped the baselines, moved in to put away winners and poured out six straight games to win the match 3-6, 6-2, 7-5. She took down the world number 1 and the first time she's ever made it to the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open. Osaka maybe came in with too many pre-conceived notions of what the match should be as to how it was going and all she could think about was her number one status being dissolved by players that were winning. Then there were the mistakes she was making that shouldn't have been for a number one player in the world. She had the tendency to dwell on the bad situations but did give herself credit saying at a post-match press conference that "I wanted to win the Australian Open and the US Open, but for me, I wanted to win this match more because she beat me already before and I just didn't want to lose twice in a row." Naomi Osaka didn't win over Bencic but was relieved to know that she did feel she served well even in the first match, coming in still recuperating from an abdominal injury in Stuttgart. Osaka had a goal of playing the French Open as no. 1 player in the world but was told that if Halep wins the Madrid title, that number one ranking will go to the Romanian. The match is over and it's time to think about entering the Italian Open in Rome. Osaka can look back at it all and think about where she was last season. She smiled as the regrets and madness started to lessen and she said: "Compared to last year, this is definitely an upgrade."<doc-sep>The women's singles matches at the ongoing Madrid Open are gaining heat with each passing round. Today is quarter-final day on the women's side of the tournament, and six out of the top eight seeded players are in action. One of the most intriguing face-offs in the quarterfinals is between the 2019 Australian Open champion and current World No. 1 Naomi Osaka, and Swiss player Belinda Bencic. Both the players had to fight hard in their initial rounds to reach the quarters, and are looking to make a deep run on a surface they are not particularly fond of. One striking similarity between the two is the fact that both of them have a similar game style. Osaka is probably a little more aggressive than Bencic, but they both like to take the ball early and change the direction of the ball. Osaka, who had a dream run in 2018 and followed it up by winning the Australian Open in 2019, has not been able to win any tournament since then. She has struggled for consistency the last couple of months; hr best result since January was reaching the semifinal of the Stuttgart Open where she had to retire with an abdominal injury. She hasn't quite looked her best in Madrid either, but she has found a way to survive in the initial rounds to reach the quarterfinals. Bencic on the other hand won the Dubai Duty Free Tennis championships by beating players like Simona Halep, Elina Svitolina and Petra Kvitova en route to the title. Since then she has been churning out decent performances, cementing her place in the top 20. Head-to-head record These two players have played against each other two times, with each winning once. Their most recent meeting was in the fourth round of Indian Wells where Osaka lost in tame fashion, going down 6-3, 6-1. But that match was played on a hardcourt; their only meeting on clay was won by Osaka. In any case, both these players don't have an amazing record on clay, and it remains to be seen what their tactics are going to be coming into this match. Bencic is the more consistent player of the two, but Osaka has more firepower on her groundstrokes; if she is in good rhythm, she would have a slight upper hand in this clash. Match prediction: Naomi Osaka to win in three sets.<doc-sep>Belinda Bencic stuns Naomi Osaka to give Simona Halep’s No 1 hopes a boost Belinda Bencic’s brilliant 2019 campaign continued at the Madrid Open as the Swiss upset Naomi Osaka to give Simona Halep’s hopes of regaining the No 1 ranking a boost. Osaka would have stayed top of the rankings if she had reached the semi-finals, but she was beaten in three sets by Dubai champion Bencic. The 22-year-old Bencic came from a set down to beat the two-time Grand Slam winner 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and 10 minutes. Down goes No. 1! @BelindaBencic knocks out Osaka, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, to seal a semifinal berth at the @MutuaMadridOpen 👏 pic.twitter.com/zi0p7cJG1D — WTA (@WTA) May 9, 2019 After exchanging the opening two sets, Osaka had the early advantage in the decider as she broke in game five, but Bencic stormed back to win the final four games. Next up is third seed Halep, who can return to No 1 if she wins the title on Sunday. The reigning French Open champion took down Australian Ashleigh Barty with a 7-5, 7-5 win. Halep broke twice in each set, but Barty also managed one break of serve in the two sets. Follow us on Twitter @T365Official and like our Facebook page. More from Tennis365:<doc-sep>
World no. 3 and two-time Madrid champion is through to the fourth semi-final at the Spanish capital following a hard-fought 7-5, 7-5 win over Ashleigh Barty in an hour and 31 minutes. This was their fourth encounter and the third win for the Romanian who lost to the Aussie in Sydney in January, snapping Barty's 11-match winning streak and securing the 24th win here in the last 24 clashes! Serving at 87%, Simona lost 19 points in 12 service games and saved two out of four break points to mount the pressure on Ashleigh who couldn't deal with it in the end. Losing 42% of the points behind the initial shot, Barty suffered four breaks from nine chances offered to the Romanian, spraying almost 40 errors and failing to deliver her best tennis when it mattered the most, despite a great effort. Simona drew first blood in the fifth game, opening a 5-3 lead before Ashleigh broke back with a forehand down the line winner in game ten to level the score at 5-5 and prolong the set. Halep earned another break in the next game and sealed the opener with a backhand crosscourt winner on own serve for a 7-5. World no. 3 forged an early lead in the second set with a break at love in the opening game, staying in front until game eight when Barty broke back for more drama, giving her best to overpower the more experienced clay-courter. The decisive moment occurred in the 11th game when Halep grabbed another break, wrapping up the victory with a forehand down the line winner to stay on the title course. Simona could become world no. 1 again with the title after Belinda Bencic took down Naomi Osaka 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 in two hours and 11 minutes. The Swiss has been on a roll in 2019, delivering five top-5 wins over Simona Halep, Karolina Pliskova, Petra Kvitova and twice over Naomi Osaka who had a big chance to avoid this defeat. The Japanese led 5-3 in the decider, two points away from the win twice on the return in the next game before Belinda held and broke back to level the score at 5-5 and cross the finish line first after winning the final four games.