Osaka makes good start in Rome

Naomi Osaka after a tough start to the season bounced back after defeating world No.45 Clara Burel 7-6(2), 6-1 in the first round in Rome on Wednesday.

The former World No.1 player who was blasting Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” in her headphones before the encounter, recorded her first Top 50 win on clay since defeating Victoria Azarenka at 2019 Roland Garros.

“I was just telling myself, like, my forehand’s one of my biggest weapons, and I shouldn’t be too discouraged,” Osaka said. “I knew the shots that I was going for that I missed were good-intentioned.

“I was just telling myself that was probably a result of nerves and I just have to keep going for my shots and eventually or hopefully they start going in.”

“I think obviously I was up 5-3, I was serving for the set, and I lost that,” Osaka said, “I think just being able to hang in there and eventually close it on my terms is something that I’m very proud of myself for. I obviously played a lot better in the second set. I’m hoping that when I play my match tomorrow, I’m able to learn from the mistakes that I did today and apply them better.”

A quarterfinalist in 2019, Osaka will face No.19 seed Marta Kostyuk in the second round. It will be her second career meeting against Kostyuk, a recent finalist at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix last month. Osaka won their first meeting at the 2020 US Open, winning 6-3 6-7(4) 6-2 in the third round.