A scrappy Naomi Osaka got here from behind to beat Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 within the first spherical of the Miami Open on Tuesday for her first win since January’s Australian Open.
Osaka dropped the primary set and trailed 4-2 within the second in opposition to the event qualifier earlier than discovering her rhythm in entrance of a supportive crowd on a sunny day in South Florida.
“I knew that I wasn’t enjoying too effectively, however I assumed, let me attempt to keep on the court docket so long as attainable as a result of I think about Miami my residence,” mentioned Osaka, who was born in Japan earlier than transferring to the U.S. at a younger age.
“[In Indian Wells] I used to be simply over-hitting loads, so I attempted to make use of my legs. I used to be going to run into each nook if I needed to, and we have been going to should play for 3 hours if she was going to beat me.”
The match hinged on a tense Osaka service sport within the third set, the place she fended off two break probabilities for her Ukrainian opponent and crushed an unreturnable serve to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
She would pound one other serve Starodubtseva couldn’t get again over the online on match level to safe the hard-fought victory in two hours and 28 minutes with coach Patrick Mouratoglou trying on.
Osaka was compelled to withdraw from her third-round match in Melbourne Park with an stomach pressure and piled up the errors in her first-round loss at Indian Wells earlier this month however moved effectively and confirmed her trademark energy to seize the win Tuesday.
The Japanese participant faces No. 24 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia within the second spherical Thursday, with the pair having cut up their two profession head-to-head conferences.
American Alycia Parks, Czech Katerina Siniakova and Romanian Sorana Cirstea have been among the many different gamers who superior to the second spherical of the WTA 1000 occasion.
