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By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, March 22, 2019

 
Naomi Osaka

Naomi Osaka pumped 14 aces stopping qualifier Yanina Wickmayer, 6-0, 6-7, 6-1, to reach the Miami third round.

Photo credit: Lindsey Godwin/Miami Open

MIAMI—Pounding her clenched fist against her thigh, Naomi Osaka was fighting both Yanina Wickmayer and herself at times in a stiff test on stadium court today.

Ultimately, the world No. 1 prevailed in both battles.

Venus: Two Choices

Osaka showed both frustration and fire fending off Belgian qualifier Wickmayer, 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-1, to advance to the Miami Open third round.

"Of course I'm really happy that I was able to win the match," Osaka said. "It was really hard for me, I think, emotionally in the second set because I just started thinking about winning, not exactly the things I could do in order to win.

"So, yeah, I had a bit of a dip. She was also playing really well. I think between the second and third set I tried to breathe and regroup."

The 21-year-old Japanese pumped 14 aces against just one double fault and has now hit 111 aces on the season, improving her record to 12-3.

There were missteps as well.

The top seed completely whiffed on an overhead in the tie breaker, tossed her racquet in frustration and flattened some forehand drives into the net. But after losing four straight points to drop the tie breaker, Osaka regained her groove in the decider.

Osaka nearly doubled Wickmayer’s winner output—51 to 28—but also scattered 32 unforced errors and sprayed some finishing shots.

Still, Osaka kept calm, denied five of six break points, jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the decider and never looked back extending her streak to 63 straight matches when winning the opening set.

It was a match of momentum shifts.

The reigning US Open and Australian Open champion barely looked stressed blasting through the 23-minute opening set against an opponent who went three sets beating Sascha Vickery in round one for her first tour-level opening-round win since the 2018 Wimbledon.




Down a break in the second, Wickmayer broke back for 3-all then held in the seventh game.

A spunky Wickmayer saved a break point holding for 5-4.




Deadlocked at 3-all in the tie breaker, Osaka completely missed an overhead. Wickmayer pounced on the opportunity smacking a service winner and ace for set point. When Osaka bashed a backhand into net, the 2009 US Open semifinalist forced a third set.

Elevating her game to a higher gear, Osaka broke for a 2-0 third-set lead. Pounding her groundstrokes with more depth and vigor, Osaka broke again for 5-1 then served out a two hour, nine-minute victory.




It’s been a rapid rise for Osaka, who arrived in Miami ranked No. 22 and fresh off her first Indian Wells title last year before knocking off her tennis idol, Serena Williams, in her Miami opener last March.

This time around, Osaka returns as a two-time Grand Slam champion aiming to continue a streak of success for the top seed. Only six No. 1 seeds have failed to reach at least the quarterfinals in the 35-year-history of the tournament.

Osaka believes maintaining emotional equilibrium is vital for her.

"For me, yeah, when I close out my emotions, I don't really say c'mon and stuff any more," Osaka said. "I just feel like, I don't know, I'm a shell. I just keep thinking about the next point. I don't really celebrate too much if I win a point. I don't really react if I lose a point. I just try to keep it moving, so...

"I think I do say c'mon if I feel like it's really tough. But for the most part not really because I think that I get really hyper quickly if I start bouncing around and stuff, so I try not to do that."

Next for Osaka is another potentially tricky test vs. Su-Wei Hsieh. The 27th-seeded Hsieh defeated American Alison Riske, 6-2, 7-5.

Osaka rallied for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, win over Hsieh at the Australian Open third round in January.

"That match, whew. She's unpredictable," Osaka said of Hsieh. "She can hit winners from anywhere it seems like. She has a slice, dropshot. Feels like she has everything.

"For me it's tough to play her because I don't know what's going to happen. It's that unpredictability that I think makes her play really well and beat all the top people. Yeah, it should be really tough tomorrow."

While the two-time Grand Slam champion withstood her first test of the tournament, a couple of Grand Slam champions did not.

World No. 59 Marketa Vondrousova swept 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko, 7-5, 6-1, to reach the third round.

Two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza fell at the first hurdle bowing to qualifier Monica Niculescu, 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-2.


 

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