By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday April 24, 2024
The four-time major champion is keeping expectations muted after notching her first win on clay since 2022.
Photo Source: TTV
One small step for Naomi Osaka, one giant step for… her clay court game?
Difficult to say, but the four-time major champion was in a good mood after notching a 6-4, 6-1 win over Belgium’s Greet Minnen on Wednesday at the Madrid Open. It was Osaka’s first clay court win in two years – the world No.197 will face a much stiffer test in the second round when she meets Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova.
Though Minnen isn’t an established force on the surface (she dropped to 2-8 lifetime on the clay today), it was nevertheless an important win for Osaka, who is searching for ranking points and confidence just four months into her comeback from maternity leave.
The 26-year-old doesn’t have any illusions about her status on the surface after improving to 22-18 lifetime on clay.
She hit eight aces and saved the only break point she faced, while winning 60 percent of her second serve return points and converting three of ten break points against Minnen.
"I'm not expecting to be like Iga, but I just want to do the best with what I have,” the former World No.1 said.
Osaka defeated 17th-ranked Samsonova 7-5, 6-3 at Indian Wells last month for the first Top-20 win of her comeback. She has high hopes for her tennis on the clay, even if the surface is one that challenges her more than any other. Osaka admits that at this stage of her career – and her comeback – the challenge is large.
"There's a basis to my game and I want to stick to that, but also respect the court,” she said. “It's a work in progress for me, but I'm watching a lot more matches on clay, I'm trying to do my homework as best as I can.
"I would like to win a tournament on clay. It would be very ironic but also hilarious if my first tournament [title as a mother] would be on clay."
Raducanu, Anisimova, Fall
Emma Raducanu came to Madrid riding high after a quarterfinal run in Stuttgart (and a decent account of herself against Iga Swiatek in said quarterfinal), but the British star saw her Madrid appearance end abruptly as she was toppled by Argentinian qualifier Maria Lourdes Carle, 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 26 minutes.
The win marks world No.221 Carle’s first 1000-level triumph. She broke Raducanu’s serve six times to set a round two clash with No.17-seeded Veronika Kudermetova.
Meanwhile American wild card Amanda Anisimova fell to Colombian qualifier Emiliana Arango, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) in two hours and 11 minutes. Anisimova, former World No.21 (now 241) drops to 5-5 on the season.
Keep up with all the Madrid scores from a busy Wednesday here