Naomi Osaka pushed her win streak on clay to seven matches following her Italian Open win.
The 27-year-old entered the Italian Open with some momentum after lifting the L’Open 35 de Saint-Malo title on Sunday.
After beginning her campaign with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over veteran Sara Errani, Osaka took on Viktorija Golubic, who replaced the Japanese player’s original opponent Paula Badosa, who pulled out due to injury.
It was a tricky contest and Naomi Osaka was made to work very hard, but she secured a valuable win to reach the third round in Rome.
Photo by PIERO CRUCIATTI/AFP via Getty ImagesNaomi Osaka completes a comeback win on clay for the first time since 2019
Osaka took on Viktorija Golubic and the Swiss player was making the most of her opportunity in the main draw of a high-level tournament against the Grand Slam champion.
The 32-year-old gave Osaka problems with her variety of backhands, slices and drop shots, and it was enough to forge a 6-2, 5-4 lead.
But Osaka played a terrific game to break serve and won the next two games to take set two and level the match, before dominating set three.
Osaka struck 41 winners on the way to completing a 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory. This is the first time she has won a WTA Tour match on clay from a set down since 2019.
The last time came against Victoria Azarenka at the French Open six years ago, when Osaka was the World number one.
Naomi Osaka explains why she played a Challenger event before the Italian Open
Osaka commenced her clay court season with an opening round defeat to Lucia Bronzetti at the Madrid Open.
To help build some confidence and sharpness on clay, Osaka opted to go down to the challenger level and play at the L’Open 35 de Saint-Malo, and she went on to win the title.
This was Osaka’s first title since 2021 and she was praised for her decision to play the tournament. “I didn’t really have too much of an ego playing that tournament,” Osaka said about playing the tournament.
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images
“Obviously I would have been really disappointed to lose in the first round,” she said. “I guess I would think that people would say that if I didn’t win the trophy.
“There’s a lot of situations that could have occurred. For me, I just wanted to focus on the tennis. I wanted to rack up experience on clay.
“I’ve always told people that I’m OK, like, playing on Court 16 if I have to anyways. The reason I came back wasn’t to play on center courts all the time, it’s because I really enjoy the game.”
AloJapan.com