Naomi Osaka continued her impressive week on grass with a comprehensive victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova that sealed a spot in the Bad Homburg Open semi-finals.

The Japanese star dominated the first career meeting between the pair and wrapped up a 6-2 6-2 victory in only 59 minutes.

Osaka was broken in only the third game of the match but then produced a spectacular response, reeling off eight straight games to clinch the first set and build a commanding advantage in the second.

Alexandrova came into this contest on the back of a superb victory over French Open champion Mirra Andreeva, but repeatedly found Osaka's serve too hot to handle.

And after only very briefly steadying the ship, her swift elimination from the WTA 500 event was confirmed as Osaka broke for a second time in the second set when Alexandrova sent a forehand into the net.

Osaka did not face a single break point from the moment she was broken early in the match, and sent down seven aces and zero double faults, winning 16 of 17 points on her first serve.

It was a dominant performance, with sixth seed Osaka winning more than double the total points of Alexandrova (58 to 27).

Huge opportunity for in-form Osaka

Grass is not known as Osaka's strongest surface, but the four-time major winner has found some impressive form this week as Wimbledon approaches, recording three consecutive victories in straight sets.

Osaka, who had shown signs of improving form with decent showings on the clay in Madrid, Rome and Roland-Garros, will now face Wang Xinyu in the semi-finals.

Wang had been due to face third seed Elina Svitolina in the last eight, but the Ukrainian withdrew from the tournament after suffering a hip injury during her previous match.

With Svitolina now out and the top two seeds – Iga Swiatek and Andreeva – having both been eliminated in round two, Osaka will be sensing a huge opportunity to end her long wait for a title, having not won silverware on the full WTA Tour since the 2021 Australian Open.

This is her first semi-final berth at a grass-court tournament since 2018, when she made the last four in Nottingham at a WTA International event, losing on that occasion to eventual champion Ash Barty.

As for Alexandrova, a heavy defeat continues a difficult 2026 campaign, though this tournament was still the first time she has won two matches in a row since competing in the Abu Dhabi Open final back in February.