News of Bahrain
Sports20 March 20252 min read

Osaka survives first-round scare in Miami

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka rallied to beat Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the second round of the Miami Open. The Japanese star captured her first match win since she reached the third ro

Editorial Team Legacy

Published 20 March 2025, 8:00 · Updated 18:12

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Osaka survives first-round scare in Miami

AFP | Miami

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka rallied to beat Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach the second round of the Miami Open.

The Japanese star captured her first match win since she reached the third round of the Australian Open -- where she retired with an abdominal injury while trailing Belinda Bencic.

Osaka bounced back from a first-round loss to Camila Osorio at Indian Wells, a match she called the “worst match I’ve ever played in my life”.

She said Tuesday she’d learned from that disappointing performance.

“(In Indian Wells) I was just over-hitting a lot, so I tried to use my legs,” she said in her on-court interview.

“I was going to run into every corner if I had to, and we were going to have to play for three hours if she was going to beat me.”

In fact, Osaka polished off the victory in two hours and 28 minutes, battling back after dropping the first five games.

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