TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka reached the ASB Classic tennis tournament final in Auckland on Saturday after beating Alycia Parks of the United States 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals.

The four-time Grand Slam title winner made her first WTA singles final since last January when she returned after giving birth and taking some time off.

"I've actually never gotten to the final of the tournament the week before Melbourne, so this is like a career first for me," the two-time Australian Open champion said on the WTA website.

"I'm really happy. There's always constantly things to improve or to get better, no matter how old you are."

The 27-year-old, currently ranked 57th, broke back immediately against her 78th-ranked opponent and got another break en route to winning the opening set. She held all her serves in the second set to close the match in 1 hour, 11 minutes.

Osaka, the seventh seed, will face 50th-ranked fifth seed Clara Tauson of Denmark in the WTA 250 tournament final.