In the first round of the Miami Open on Tuesday, the rough Naomi Osaka came from behind in the first round of the Miami Open for its first victory since the Australian Open in January.
Osaka dropped their first set and then stomped 4-2 second against tournament qualifiers before finding the rhythm in front of a supplementary crowd on a sunny South Florida day.
“I knew I wasn’t playing very well, but I consider Miami my home so I tried to stay in court for as long as possible,” said Osaka, who was born in Japan before moving to the US at a young age.
“I was hitting a lot (in an Indian well) so I tried to use my feet and ran into every corner if necessary.
The match was on the nervous Osaka Service Game in the third set. There, she dodged two break chances for her Ukrainian opponent and crushed an incurable serve to get a 4-1 lead.
She slaps another serve Starodubtseva was unable to return to the net at match points.
Osaka was forced to withdraw from a three-round match at Melbourne Park with a belly strain on her, piling up the error of her first round loss at Indian Wells earlier this month, but showed the power of her trademark to grab a victory on Tuesday.
The Japanese player faces Russia’s 24th seed Lud Mirasam Sonova, No. 24 in the second round on Thursday, and the pair have split two careers straight out of their heads.
American Alycia Parks, Czech Katerina Siniakova and Romania’s Sorana Cirstea were among the other players who advanced to the second round of the WTA 1000 event.