Fourth seed Naomi Osaka defeated 28th seed Jennifer Brady in a high quality three-setter to reach the US Open final on Thursday, crediting her run to a carefree attitude post-lockdown. The Japanese 2018 US Open champion overcame the 25-year-old American 7-6 (7/1), 3-6, 6-3 in 2hr 8min under the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium. Osaka, 22, will play either Serena Williams or Victoria Azarenka in Saturday's final. "I just felt like I was sticking it out, it felt like we were trading serves," Osaka said of the semi-final tussle. "I think I tried to adjust a little bit on her serve in the third set so maybe that helped," she added. Brady, 25, had not dropped a set during her run to her first Grand Slam semi-final.

And the world number 41 went toe-to-toe with Osaka until the first set tie-break. The players traded six held service games each before Osaka the world number nine took control of the tie-break. At 2-1, Osaka won five points in a row, which included two unforced errors by Brady. In set two the first seven games were held before Brady broke Osaka's serve to take a 5-3 lead. She then successfully held to take the match to a deciding third set as the duo traded big serves with powerful forehand groundstrokes. The breakthrough in the deciding set came game when Osaka broke Brady's serve in a fourth game that included a lucky net cord point for the Japanese. Osaka then held her own to go 4-1 in front with the help of another net cord point.