Naomi Osaka recored her second win of the season on Monday, as she defeated No.15 seed Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-4 in their first-round clash at the WTA 1000 Qatar TotalEnergies Open.
The former World No.1 who achieved her revenge with a straight set win inside 1-hour and 28-minute in Doha will next face Croat Petra Martic.
This is the second time the pair have crossed swords but it comes a decade after their first encounter.
A 16-year-old Osaka prevailed on that occasion, a final qualifying round match at Stanford in 2014.
Having not won since defeating Tamara Korpatsch in the opening week of the 2024 season, the concerns were there for Naomi Osaka especially given that she was set to face Caroline Garcia again at the Qatar Open who defeated her at the Australian Open.
She avenged her first-round loss to Garcia earlier this year at the Australian Open, which was Osaka’s first Grand Slam appearance since her maternity leave began at the end of 2022.
It is her first top 30 win in almost two years and is a huge win for the confidence of the four-time Grand Slam champion.
Elsewhere, the top-seeded Iga Swiatek player in Doha, also made an impressive start as she destroyed world No. 22 Cirstea 6-1 6-1.
The World No.1 who is making her 37th WTA 1000 event as the top seeded player, awaits the winner of the match between Ekaterina Alexandrova and Erika Andreeva in the round of 16.
Also, British Emma Raducanu, 21, was all but impressive in her Doha debut as she suffered a very disappointing 0-6 6-7 (6) loss to Kalinina.
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