Osaka shakes off injury to ease past Doi

Naomi Osaka survived a tricky opening round match against Misaki Doi on Monday evening, eventually winning 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

Osaka, who pulled out of the Cincinnati Masters final with a hamstring injury, showed little sign of the issue as she took the first set with relative ease.

The second set was a different story as Doi’s aggressive serve put pressure on the 2018 Open champion.

Osaka took hold and looked to have it locked up before her opponent forced her into uncharacteristic errors to grab the set and force a final match decider.

And Osaka raced to a 3-1 lead and never looked back.

She extended the lead to 5-2 after a Doi backhand mistake an d took out the match to set up a second round tie against Camila Giorgi.

“She’s very unpredictable for me,” Osaka said, “so I guess I just have to be on my toes.”

Osaka had earlier made a statement, walking to court wearing a mask with the name of Breonna Taylor, a woman shot by police in a drugs raid in Kentucky in March.

Peter Rowe

Recent Posts

Halep seething over Swiatek wrist-slap doping penalty

Doping sanction victim Simona Halep has gone online to protest her own treatment by anti-doping…

4 weeks ago

Nadal goes down in final match

Rafael Nadal lined up for what was to be the final match of his career…

1 month ago

Sinner flattens de Minaur in runaway home start

Jannik Sinner took charge in front of his home crowd on Sunday, crushing ATP Finals…

1 month ago

Madcap Medvedev suffers temperamental Turin Finals loss

Daniil Medvedev went into meltdown mode on Sunday during a highly charged 6-4, 6-3 loss, with opponent…

1 month ago

Team Sinner considering skipping Monte Carlo

Jannik Sinner could well be missing from the opening European clay event of next season…

2 months ago

Davis Cup Final to mark Nadal goodbye to tennis

Rafael Nadal will bring down the curtain on his career next month as he plays his…

3 months ago