By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, April 25, 2019
In her swoosh debut, Osaka swept Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-3, 6-4, powering into a Porsche Tennis Grand Prix quarterfinal clash vs. Donna Vekic.
Photo credit: Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Facebook
A rebranded Naomi Osaka looked recharged sweeping a tricky rival in Stuttgart.
In her swoosh debut, Osaka did not drop serve sweeping Hsieh Su-Wei, 6-3, 6-4, to power into a Porsche Tennis Grand Prix quarterfinal clash vs. Donna Vekic.
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Contesting her first clay-court match since bowing to Madison Keys in the 2018 Roland Garros third round, Osaka brought a familiar first-strike attack along with her new Nike apparel, complete with sponsor patches, onto the red clay.
The victory ensures she'll remain world No. 1 through the end of Stuttgart, though Osaka told the media in Stuttgart she's spent more time thinking about personal positivity after battling depression recently.
"I'm really grateful for everyone that's sort of been really positive to me during these past few months because it was really rough," Osaka said. "The kid was depressed out here, you know? I feel like just having people who are constantly bringing light and positivity into your life really helps.
"Because you don't know you're feeding off energy until you sort of look out of the situation you're in. I don't know how to explain it. Hopefully, this wasn't something bad to say."
The world No. 1 avenged a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 loss to Hsieh at the Miami Open last month.
"If there's one positive thing I can say about myself it's that I learn quickly," Osaka told the media in Stuttgart. "So for me it's fun because I like to apply what I did wrong in the past and I think that's what I was able to do today."
In Miami, Hsieh combined her skill taking the ball on the rise with the hard-court surface reeling off six of the final seven games toppling the top seed with a calm disposition and a sniper's flair for shotmaking.
Today, Osaka dug in the dirt and made a stand in the fourth game.
Aided by a couple of Hsieh return errors, Osaka fought off a pair of break points during a trying 18-point game. On the strength of some stinging serves and her willingness to step in and smack her forehand with aggressive intent, Osaka held for 2-all.
"The way our games are set up, she takes more risks than me," Osaka told the media in Stuttgart. "And it pays off faster on hard courts. I just felt this surface is more suited for me and that sounds pretty weird, but I think it's true."
Lingering frustration from that lost opportunity haunted Hsieh, who netted a backhand to face triple break point in the following game.
Osaka broke at 15 as part of a three-game surge to take control at 4-2.
When the two-time Grand Slam champion hits her spots on serve she has the ability to cruise through holds. Osaka won eight of her last 11 points on serve to seize the opening set.
Though neither woman cites clay as preferred surface, Osaka struck with more conviction breaking at love to start the second set then consolidating with a deuce hold.
In Miami, Hsieh worked angles shrewdly and wrong-footed the Japanse. Osaka played with more energy and efficiency today, looking eager to get out to fast starts in each game.
The Australian Open champion closed the match with her third break of the day setting up a quarterfinal vs. Vekic.
The 25th-ranked Vekic conquered 22nd-ranked Russian Daria Kasatkina, 6-1, 7-5.
"She's a really tough person to play against," Osaka said of sometime practice partner Vekic. "She has a good serve. There's not really anything she's bad at so I've been keeping that in mind. I just have to focus on not having a temperament and when I do well that's like the main thing people notice, so..."
It's the fourth quarterfinal of the season for Vekic, who knocked off world No. 2 Petra Kvitova en route to the St. Petersburg final where she fell to Kiki Bertens in February.
The 21-year-old Osaka beat Vekic, 6-3, 6-2, in their lone prior meeting at the 2016 Australian Open.
In an all-German match, two-time Stuttgart champion Angelique Kerber dispatched Andrea Petkovic, 6-2, 6-4, to roll into Friday's quarterfinals.
The fifth-seeded Kerber plays sixth-seeded Kiki Bertens for a place in the final four. Bertens beat Belinda Bencic, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.