Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka reached her first semi-final in almost three years after she came from behind to beat unseeded Hailey Baptiste 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2 at the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand on Friday.

Osaka, seeded seventh in Auckland, had a shaky start as she lacked rhythm in the opening set but bounced back with a near-flawless performance featuring a powerful serving game in the next two sets, finishing the contest with nine aces to give her 21 for the tournament.

The four-time Grand Slam champion also needed to survive two brief rain interruptions during the match before closing out rising American Baptiste after two hours and two minutes of play.

Osaka will play either eighth-seed Katie Volynets or unseeded American Alycia Parks in the semi-final of the WTA 250 tournament, which is a tune-up event for the Australian Open that begins on January 12.

“I think the key focuses that I had were just to have a lot of belief and confidence in myself,” World No. 57 Osaka said in an on-court interview.

“I think I put a lot of work in throughout last year, and even though the results didn’t show it, I think I’m just continuing to, I guess, try as hard as I can and see where it gets me.”

The last time Osaka reached a WTA semi-final or better was in 2022 when she finished runner-up at the Miami Open, losing in the final to Iga Swiatek.

The ASB Classic semi-final on Saturday will also be Osaka’s first tour-level semifinal since she returned from her 15-month maternity leave in January 2024 after giving birth to her daughter Shai.

Baptiste sought treatment for an ankle injury during the second set of Friday’s quarter-final match. Osaka admitted that helped her cause.

“[Baptiste is] an amazing player,” Osaka said of her opponent who is ranked 92nd.

“It sucks that she was injured, but I think we played a really high-quality match, and in a weird way I’m glad to have played a three-set match because I think that’s kind of the experience I need.”

Osaka is now two matches away from her first title since the 2021 Australian Open, the fourth of her major titles. The 27-year-old also won the Melbourne Park major in 2019 and triumphed at the U.S. Open in 2018 and 2020.

The ASB Classic Auckland tournament is Osaka’s first since October, when she suffered a back injury at the China Open during a Round of 16 clash with Coco Gauff.

Osaka reached two WTA quarter-finals last year, at the WTA 1000 tournament in Doha and the WTA 250 event in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.

She has struggled for consistency since returning from her maternity break and before the Auckland tournament hinted at hanging up her racquet if she falls short of her expectations.

“I don’t think I’m the type of player that would hang around,” Osaka told reporters at that time.

“I have a lot of respect for all the players on tour, but the point of my life that I’m at right now if I’m not above a certain ranking, I don’t see myself playing for a while.

“I’d rather spend time with my daughter if I’m not where I think I should be and where I feel like I can be.”