Naomi Osaka advances at the Miami Open
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. –
Two days, two wins and making it look simple.
Naomi Osaka certain looks as if herself once more.
The previous world No. 1 is thru to the third spherical on the Miami Open, simply dealing with Thirteenth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday. It was each bit as one-sided because the rating made it appear, with Osaka successful 89% of first-serve factors and 61 of the 100 factors performed within the match general.
“It means quite a bit to me,” stated Osaka, unseeded in Miami after falling to No. 77 on the planet as a result of she’s missed appreciable time to concentrate on her psychological well being in recent times. “She’s the primary high-seeded participant I’ve crushed this yr.”
Osaka’s win set the tone for a day the place 11 seeded ladies have been ousted from the match, a surprising collection of outcomes headlined by Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu defeating top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-4. Begu had misplaced 17 of her final 18 matches towards top-10 gamers coming into Thursday.
Additionally gone: No. 3 seed Anett Kontaveit. She misplaced to Ann Li, a 21-year-old American who obtained her first win over a top-10 opponent – a 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 triumph.
Kerber is ranked fifteenth on the planet; the final time Osaka defeated a top-15 ranked participant was when she topped then-No. 10 Serena Williams within the 2021 Australian Open semifinals. Osaka went on to win that match and hasn’t been to a closing since, however her win over Kerber – who had been 4-1 towards Osaka coming into Thursday – definitely made her look the a part of a Miami contender.
“I went into the match simply actually eager to play my recreation,” stated Osaka, who has but to drop a set in her two matches in Miami; she beat Astra Sharma 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday. “I nonetheless have the recollections of all of the matches she’s crushed me earlier than. So yeah, I simply needed to play in addition to I might. It labored out.”
The remainder of the ousted ladies’s seeds: No. 6 Karolina Pliskova, No. 11 Emma Raducanu, No. 15 Elina Svitolina, No. 18 Leylah Fernandez, No. 19 Tamara Zidansek, No. 25 Daria Kasatkina, No. 31 Alize Cornet and No. 32 Sara Sorribes Tormo, all of them defeated Thursday.
Pliskova – in simply her second match after lacking about 4 months with a damaged arm – misplaced 6-3, 6-3 to qualifier Anna Kalinskaya.
Olympic doubles gold medalist Katarina Siniakova of the Czech Republic wanted slightly below three hours to beat Raducanu, the reigning U.S. Open champion, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Siniakova was almost lowered to tears whereas getting labored on throughout a medical time-out within the first set due to an upper-body harm.
“I feel I simply felt higher because the match was occurring,” Siniakova stated. “I used to be preventing at first.”
Svitolina, who had plenty of followers carrying pro-Ukraine shirts watching her match in tribute to her homeland, misplaced to Britain’s Heather Watson 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
“I actually really feel for Elina,” Watson stated. “I can see she’s not her regular self. … She should simply have a lot on her thoughts. I feel it is superb that she’s out right here nonetheless competing.”
Fernandez – a U.S. Open finalist final yr – misplaced to Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6 (3).
Muchova, who hasn’t performed for the reason that U.S. Open almost seven months in the past due to an belly harm, will face Osaka for a spot within the spherical of 16.
“For me, it was a win to play and compete once more,” Muchova stated.
Vera Zvonareva topped Zidansek, 6-3, 6-2. Cornet misplaced to Alison Riske of the U.S. 6-2, 6-2. Kasatkina fell to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 7-6 (5), 6-4, and Sorribes Tormo was ousted by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.
No. 9 seed Danielle Collins of the U.S. escaped the upset bug, holding off Anna Bondar of Hungary 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur was one other winner, getting previous Poland’s Magda Linette 7-6 (1), 6-2, and No. 22 Belinda Bencic eased by Maria Kostyuk 6-3, 6-1.
Among the many males’s winners was two-time Miami Open winner Andy Murray, a 7-6 (4), 6-1) winner over Federico Delbonis to earn a second-round matchup towards No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev. Murray gained the occasion in 2009 and 2013 when it was held at its former Key Biscayne residence.
“Clearly, a troublesome match,” Murray stated of the looming matchup with Medvedev. “He is performed extraordinarily nicely on laborious courts the previous couple of seasons. He seems to be proper up there on the high of the sport. It will be a giant problem, an incredible check.”
Sebastian Korda of the U.S., who made the quarterfinals at Miami final yr, rolled previous Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 6-1, 6-1 in a first-round match. He obtained off the court docket in simply over an hour on a summer-like day in South Florida.
“I am a Florida boy,” Korda stated. “I like the humidity. Warmth and humidity, these are my two favourite issues. I simply play some actually good tennis in them.”
