AUCKLAND: Former world number one Naomi Osaka reached her first final since 2022 on Saturday as she swept aside unseeded American Alycia Parks at the Auckland Classic. The four-time Grand Slam champion from Japan won 6-4, 6-2 in another confidence boost ahead of the Australian Open. Osaka was contesting her first semi-final since 2022, having taken a break from tennis and becoming a mother in 2023. The 27-year-old showed no sign of the nerves that had marked her first three wins in Auckland, producing a clinical performance to set up a final on Sunday against Clara Tauson of Denmark. Osaka’s power and precision proved too much for the 78th-ranked Parks. The American faded in what was her second match of the day, having had her quarter-final pushed back by rain on Friday. Osaka’s four wins this week have come against opponents ranked below her at a tournament lacking a strong field. That will change in the final against 50th-ranked Tauson, who beat unseeded American Robin Montgomery 6-4, 6-3 in the other semi-final. Earlier in the day, Tauson toppled American top seed Madison Keys 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) in a quarter-final that was interrupted by rain on Friday night.