Naomi Osaka hadn’t played in Wuhan since 2017, when she lost a three-set first round match to Elise Mertens after dropping the opening set 4-6.
Wuhan: Scores | Draws | Order of play
Eight years later, she found herself in familiar territory, losing the first set 4-6 to Leylah Fernandez in Tuesday’s opening round of the Dongfeng · Voyah Wuhan Open.
This time, the comeback stuck.
Osaka battled back to defeat Fernandez 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in two and a half hours, earning her first career win in Wuhan and advancing to the second round for the first time.
It marked her fourth opening-match victory in seven WTA 1000 events this season.
Despite the result, the match began shakily for the four-time Grand Slam champion, who double-faulted on the opening point. She held serve after a seven-minute game, but Fernandez broke first to take a 3-2 lead early in the first set.
The Canadian never looked back, dropping just five points on serve to close out the set in 42 minutes.
The second set was far more complicated, featuring five breaks of serve and a combined 13 break points. Osaka jumped ahead 3-0 and later 4-2, but six double faults in the set allowed Fernandez to claw back.
The 23-year-old leveled the set at 4-all, saving three break points from 0-40 down at 3-4, but she couldn’t escape a second 0-40 hole later in the set. Instead, Osaka broke at love to claim the nearly hour-long set and force a decider.
With the heat rule in effect due to temperatures hovering around 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and humidity pushing the feel upwards of 90, both players accepted the option to leave the court and enact a 10-minute break before returning for the third set.
Fernandez returned to the court first, with Osaka following a couple minutes later.
Those extra moments out of the sun may have helped. Osaka raced out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1 in the final set. This time, Fernandez couldn’t mount a comeback, and Osaka secured the win on her second match point with one final backhand winner.
Here are some notable stats from Osaka’s come-from-behind victory:
1: Osaka earned her first win against Fernandez, evening their WTA head-to-head at 1-1. She also became the first player representing Japan to record at least one win in every current WTA 1000 tournament.
7: This marks Osaka’s seventh comeback win of the 2025 season, tying her personal best from 2019. Only Madison Keys (10) has more this year.
9: Osaka hit nine aces, well above her season average of 6.7 per match. Despite eight double faults, she still out-served her opponent, winning nearly 70% of first-serve points and 60% on her second serve.
10: Her win Tuesday was Osaka’s 10th three-set win of the season, her second-highest total in a single year (17 in 2019).
12: Osaka has won 12 of her last 15 matches, a stretch that includes a Canadian Open final and a US Open semifinal. It’s her best 15-match run since winning the Australian Open in 2021.
A popcorn second-round match awaits Osaka — Beijing runner-up Linda Noskova, who also had to battle through a tough three-setter to advance. The 20-year-old Czech came through 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(2) in 2 hours and 38 minutes against qualifier Yulia Putintseva.
Just two days previously, Noskova was contesting her first WTA 1000 final in Beijing, where she fell in three sets to Amanda Anisimova. She led Putintseva by a break in the second set before the Kazakhstani player threatened to turn the match around with a series of her signature drop shots. However, Noskova gradually reeled Putintseva in from 3-1 down in the third set, and despite failing to serve out the win at 5-4, delivered a clutch tiebreak to seal victory.
A first career trip to the Dongfeng · Voyah Wuhan Open third round is on the line for both players.
Beijing finalist Noskova edges Putintseva in third-set tiebreak in Wuhan
AloJapan.com