Naomi Osaka managed a rare grass court win on Tuesday as the Japanese hardcourter left it late to start her pre-WImbledon build-up.

The four time grand Slam champion on cement in Melbourne and New York, has only this week on grass at the WTA Bad Homburg event to prepare for Monday’s start at the All England club.

Osaka has played the major only five times in her career and has never passed the third round.

But after defeating Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals, the 28-year-old has suddenly found growing confidence on the lawns.

“Honestly, it’s really fun to learn match by match,” she said. 

“A (fast start) is really important on grass, because of how fast it feels the matches go.

“But, honestly, I don’t really think about it; I just try to play my game, and thankfully, I did get a really good start.”

Osaka’s success was her best ever on grass and she celebrated by ringing her toddler daughter. “’’m going to call my daughter later, it always brightens my day to talk to her.”

Osaka’s previous grass quarter-final appearances all came at the 250 or Challenger level or lower dating back a dozen years.

After rushing from a Saturday finals loss in Germany to a Sunday training day at Wimbledon, Iga Swiatek is feeling the pressure of a packed-out tennis calendar.

The five-time Grand Slam champion whose Wimbledon best was a quarter-final two years ago has called again for a rationalising of WTA duties, with players constantly moving from one event to the next on a nearly nonstop basis.

“For me the scheduling is pretty intense. I think people would still watch tennis, maybe even more, if we played less tournaments,” the Pole said a day after losing the Bad Homburg final to Jessica Pegula.

“The quality, for example, would be better or we would be more consistent because of that (reduction of calendar pressure).”

Swiatek, who is ranked eighth after not winning a title since Roland Garros last season, added that the tennis grind is getting more and more demanding.

“This is for sure challenging. But tennis is a difficult sport overall.. every week you start kind of from the beginning.

“Every week can tell you if you’re a great player or you sucked this week, you know.

“I think the scheduling is too intense. There’s no point for us to play, like, over 20 tournaments in a year.

“Sometimes we need to sacrifice playing for your country because we need to keep up with playing these WTA 500s, for example, because we’re going to get a zero (points) in the ranking.

But amid her cry for help is a saving grace: “You always have to have in the back of your mind that tennis is not your whole life. 

“You’ve got to give some perspective and also be proud of sometimes even when you don’t win, because only one person out of the whole tournament wins.”

Iga Swiatek stands a win away from her first career grass court final – but faces the challenge of former Wimbledon finalist Jasmine Paolini in the next round.

Poland’s former world No. 1 – a five-time Grand Slam champion – is fighting to emerge from what would be considered a slump at her elite level; She has yet to win a title this season and has not lifted a trophy since Roland Garros 12 months ago.  

Swiatek booked her semi-final place on the WTA grass at Bad Homburg on Thursday over  Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 7-6 (5) in their quarter-final

Italian Paolini defeated Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia 7-5, 7-5.

Swiatek has never lost to Paolini, entering the semi-final with a 4-0 record in the series as they face off on grass for the first time.

.

Swiatek said she had to work to get past Alexandrova: “I already lost against her, so I knew she could make amazing tennis.

“For sure, her flat shots fit really well on the grass,” she said after saving three break points in victory.

The match was interrupted by rain, during which Swiatek passed the time doing crosswords in the locker room at 4-3 in the second set.

“Today, it was all about adjusting to the conditions, because it was super windy for most of the match,” she said.

“We both tried to do what we can — on the one hand, be intense, but on the other hand play it safe.”