Miami Open: Naomi Osaka Survives First-Round Scare; Sofia Kenin Beats Petra Kvitova
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka rallied to beat Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on tuesday to attain the second round of the Miami Open.
The famous Japanese person captured her first match win due to the fact that she reached the 0.33 round of the Australian Open, where she retired with an abdominal harm while trailing Belinda Bencic.
Osaka bounced back from a first-round loss to Camila Osorio at indian Wells, a health she referred to as the "worst in shape I've ever played in in my existence."
She said tuesday she'd discovered that from that disappointing performance.
"(In indian Wells) I was simply over-hitting a lot, so I tried to apply my legs," she said in her on-court interview.
"I was going to run into each nook if I had to, and we were going to have to play for 3 hours if she was going to overcome me."
In reality, Osaka polished off the victory in two hours and 28 minutes, scuffling again after losing the primary 5 games.
Starodubtseva led 4-2 within the second set; however, Osaka's 10 aces helped her recover, and she turned into a control in the third set to release her bid for a primary name in the town she considers her US domicile. She became runner-up to Iga Swiatek in 2022 in her high-quality Miami Open end.
Osaka subsequently faces 24th seed Liudmila Samsonova. The 27-year-old continues to be seeking to return to peak shape after coming back from a 15-month hiatus last year after giving birth to daughter Shai in 2023.
Her year got off to a promising start when she reached her first very last on account of 2022 in Auckland; however, she withdrew with a stomach injury even as she was leading that suit and was later pressured out in Melbourne.
In other first-round action, Sofia Kenin beat Petra Kvitova 6-4, 7-5 in a conflict of former Grand Slam champions.
Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open winner, booked an all-American 2nd-round meeting with world rank three Coco Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion who is coming off a fourth-round exit at indian Wells.
Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion who gained the Miami Open in 2023, remains seeking her first match win considering the fact that returning to movement in February, a little extra than seven months after giving birth to son Petr last July.
She had stepped far from the sport due to her pregnancy on New Year's Day 2024.
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