Osaka | Cirstea bests Boulter as Osaka limps into quarters

British No 3 Katie Boulter slumped to a 6-3 6-1 defeat by Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in the 2nd-round of the WTA 250 Kinoshita Group Japan Open on Wednesday, unable to find the form that shocked the World No 17, Linda Noskova, in the 1st round in Osaka on Monday.

I took Advils, so I think it feels better than what it is right now, but obviously it doesn’t feel good,. I couldn’t really move that well. It’s not good, but I think I’m a fast healer so it should be OK for my next match. Naomi Osaka

Boulter, who reached a career-high ranking of No 23 in 2024, came into the tournament having suffered 5 opening-round defeats from 7 tournaments, slipping behind Sonay Kartal in the rankings to become Britain’s No 3, but had taken down Noskova, the No 2 seed, 7-6(3) 6-3, to score her most impressive win in months.

There were 3 breaks of serve in the opening 4 games as the in-form Cirstea, ranked 51 in the world, went 3-1 ahead of Boulter on Day 3, before wrapping up the first set.

She then broke the Brit 3 times on the way to a 5-0 lead in the second, and although Boulter broke back, she failed to hold her serve in the next game, as the impressive Cirstea secured a quarter-final place after just 69 minutes.

While 35-year old Cirstea dominated throughout, there is a boost for Boulter, who is projected to rise from No 59 to 57 in the rankings, although this could change depending on future results by others in Japan and the Ningbo Open in China.

Boulter performed well on her first serve against Cirstea, making 75% of her first deliveries, but she only managed to win 14 of the 36 points she set up with it, barely 39%, although she did win a high percentage of her second serve points, with 50%.

The 29-year-old will hope to improve on this when she competes at the Hong Kong Open at the end of October, which is also set to feature Emma Raducanu, Victoria Mboko, Leylah Fernandez and Alexandra Eala.

Boulter reached the final in Hong Kong Open last year, losing to Diana Shnaider at the final hurdle, but the Russian is not currently on the entry lists for the 2025 edition.

An inspired Cirstea sealed her spot in the quarter-finals with a near-perfect performance, and awaits the winner of the 2nd-round match between Marie Bouzkova from Czechia and Viktorija Golubic from Switzerland, who play on Thursday.

“I’m very happy to be in the quarter-finals, and I thought I played a very solid match,” said Cirstea after defeating Boulter. “I’m happy with the performance, and hopefully I can keep going.”

Top seed Naomi Osaka beat defending champion Suzan Lamens in their 2nd-round match at the Japan Open, despite sustaining a left leg injury in the process

Also on Wednesday, top seed Naomi Osaka dethroned the defending champion, Suzan Lamens, from the Netherlands, 7-6(6) 3-6 6-2, to reach the quarter-finals, but she suffered an injury scare in the closing stages of the match that left her limping off the court.

“It was definitely really difficult – I’m kind of sorry about my attitude, but I’m really glad to have won.” Osaka said in an on-court interview that had to be cut short due to her leg pain. “Can I go? My leg is really hurting.”

The Japanese former World No 1 took a medical time-out at 5-0, 40-30 up in the final set after pulling up on her left leg, was treated with heavy strapping around her left thigh, returning to drop 2 games before defeating Lamens with her movement clearly hampered.

In the high-quality contest, Osaka had responded well to Lamens’ stern challenge, raising her level to pull away from the surging Dutchwoman in the third set, but she was visibly distressed as attempted to close out the match with first-strike tennis to avoid any extended rallies.

She was unable to take 2 match points on her own serve at 5-1, double-faulting on the first and netting a backhand on the second, but got herself over the line on return, summoning up a backhand winner to convert her 3rd match point after 2 hours and 20 minutes on court.

Speaking to the press afterwards, Osaka was hopeful that she could continue in the tournament.

“I took Advils, so I think it feels better than what it is right now, but obviously it doesn’t feel good,” she admitted. “I couldn’t really move that well. It’s not good, but I think I’m a fast healer so it should be OK for my next match.”

Prior to the injury, Osaka had managed to raise her level in key moments to take control of the contest after both initially had taken their time to fully settle, with Lamens losing the first 8 points of the match, including consecutive double-faults to open her first service game, and the top seed then conceding 9 points in a row to go down a break.

Lamens threw in an error-strewn game while attempting to serve the set out at 5-4, and, at 5/5 in the ensuing tiebreak, Osaka played her best point of the set to inch ahead.

Putting the disappointment behind her, Lamens found her form with her lethal forehand to take the second, and, at the start of the third, the 26-year-old Dutchwoman seemed poised to pull away after winning the best point of the match, ending a 19-stroke lung-buster with a thumping forehand winner on the line.

Osaka, though, responded immediately, and, on the very next point, she came up with a hot shot of her own, ending a 12-stroke athletic exchange with a superb backhand angle.

“Emotionally, I was going through a lot in this match,” Osaka said. “And then in the third set I tried my best to have no regrets.”

Olga Danilovic, the 8th seed, advanced to the Last 8 with a 2-set win over Ashlyn Krueger on Wednesday in Osaka

Aided by firing 9 aces and the 8 double-faults contributed by Lamens, Osaka secured a Last 8 meeting with Jaqueline Cristian on Friday, the Romanian having rebounded from a first-set whitewash to defeat the No 8 seed, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, 0-6 6-4 6-2, to avenge a 1st-round loss to the Spaniard in Beijing 3 weeks ago.

Also advancing to the quarters was Olga Danilovic of Serbia, who defeated American Ashlyn Krueger, 6-4 6-4, to move on and awaits the winner between 3rd seed Elise Mertens from Belgium and Tereza Valentova, a talented 18-year old qualifier from Czechia.

British No 3 Katie Boulter could not replicate the form that shocked the World No 17, Linda Noskova, in the 1st round in Osaka on Monday when she lost to Sorana Cirstea in straight sets on Wednesday