Eleventh-seeded Naomi Osaka overcame a slow start for a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over Leylah Fernandez on Tuesday in a first-round match at the Wuhan Open.
Playing in the event for the first time in eight years, Osaka recorded 10 aces and overcame eight double faults to dispatch the Canadian in 2 1/2 hours. The four-time Grand Slam champion from Japan also exacted a bit of revenge after losing to Fernandez in the Round of 16 at the 2021 U.S. Open.
Osaka stumbled from the onset, double faulting on the opening point and later allowing Fernandez to break serve and gain a 3-2 lead in the opening set.
Osaka appeared to regain her composure and jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the second set, however six double faults nearly led to her undoing. Undaunted, Osaka forced a deciding set.
Osaka once again raced out to an early lead, this time 4-1 in the third set. She held Fernandez at bay the rest of the way.
Osaka advances to face China Open finalist Linda Noskova. The Czech secured a 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (2) victory over Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Also on Tuesday, Ann Li led Britain’s Emma Raducanu 6-1, 4-1 before the 2021 U.S. Open champion retired due to dizziness. Raducanu had her blood pressure checked on the humid afternoon.
“I hope she feels better,” Li said. “I don’t know what happened, but you could tell toward the end she was maybe not moving as much.”
Second-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland breezed to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Czech Marie Bouzkova in a second-round match. Swiatek broke her foe’s serve six times en route to ending the match in 79 minutes.
“Every tournament I go to, I want to play my best game,” Swiatek said. “Sometimes I deliver; sometimes not but yeah, my expectation is to just do my best. Honestly, I don’t set goals like semifinal or whatever — just really making it step by step.”
As for other matches involving seeded players, No. 12 Czech Karolina Muchova secured a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 triumph over Marta Kostyuk of the Ukraine and No. 13 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland coasted to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Donna Vekic of Croatia.
No. 16 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia seized a 6-1, 7-5 win over Emiliana Arango of Colombia. That set up a second-round match against Sofia Kenin, who outlasted Russian Anastasia Zakharova 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
No. 14 Emma Navarro wasn’t as fortunate, falling 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 to China’s Shuai Zheng.
The tournament is the final chance for players to make a push for the year-end tournament in Riyadh. Five of the eight spots already have been claimed by Aryna Sabalenka, Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Amanda Anisimova and Madison Keys, with three up for grabs in Wuhan.
–Field Level Media
