With her fifth consecutive win at the WTA tournament in Osaka, Queensland’s Kimberly Birrell has notched a career milestone.
Osaka, Japan, 19 October 2024 | Matt Trollope
Kimberly Birrell has continued her impressive form in Japan, moving into the semifinals of the WTA event in Osaka.
Birrell, a qualifier, beat Japanese wildcard Sara Saito 7-5 6-4 to notch her fifth straight win at the 250-level hard-court tournament.
She recovered from 5-2 in the opening set to win five straight games, then broke late in the second set before serving out the match.
The journey continues 💫@kimbirrell98 is into her first career hard court semifinal after defeating Saito in Osaka!#KinoshitaJOTennis pic.twitter.com/h2PfGGFAAe
— wta (@WTA) October 18, 2024
This was the 26-year-old’s fourth appearance in a tour-level quarterfinal, but the first time she has progressed beyond that point to a singles semifinal.
There she will face fellow qualifier Aoi Ito, also of Japan.
“This one felt good,” Birrell wrote on her Instagram story as she shared a clip of her winning match point. “Pumped for more tomorrow!!”
In a great day for Australia, Birrell’s win came around the same time another Aussie, Aleksandar Vukic, advanced to the ATP semifinals in Almaty, Kazakhstan with an upset win over No.1 seed Frances Tiafoe.
Osaka is a tournament where the draw has opened up considerably; three of the four semifinalists are qualifiers, with the only seed remaining being No.7 Diana Parry of France.
The last time Birrell won five straight matches was in May this year, when she scooped the W75 ITF title in Fukuoka.
One of the players she beat en route to that title was Ito, whom she faces again on Saturday afternoon.
At that time she was ranked world No.182, but with her success this week in Osaka, she is projected to rise to 121st.
She peaked at world No.100 in September last year.
Birrell improves her 2024 win-loss record to 38-25.
