MELBOURNE – Japan’s two-time champion Naomi Osaka made the women’s singles second round at the Australian Open on Tuesday after battling past tournament debutant Antonia Ruzic of Croatia 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Former world No. 1 Osaka was made to work for her victory in the first round with the 16th seed needing a late spark, including three straight aces to go up 5-4 in the third set, to fend off her 65th-ranked opponent.
“It’s honestly one of my favorite tournaments and just to start the year off, it makes me very happy,” said Osaka, the semifinalist at last year’s U.S. Open. “I think I served pretty well.”
“She (Ruzic) is an amazing player, I’ve never played her before, so I hope to not see her on the other side of the net! But if I do, I’m pretty sure we’ll keep playing some really good matches.”
After grabbing the fans’ attention with her court-entrance outfit incorporating a parasol, veil and a hat “modelled after jellyfish,” the 2019 and 2021 champion was tied at 3-3 before winning the next three games to take the first set.
Ruzic, who matched Osaka in landing 68 percent of her first serves in the match, thrived on her angled shots from the baseline as well as in longer rallies and got the only break of the second set to force the decider.
An early exit loomed for Osaka after the four-time Grand Slam winner relinquished a 2-0 lead to trail 4-3, but she broke back to keep her fate in her own hands and held serve before breaking again to seal the win in 2 hours, 22 minutes.
“In general, I didn’t think I played bad, I thought it was a pretty good match,” she said. “I’m a little stubborn, so I was understanding her backhand is really good. But then I was like my backhand should be better.”
“Realistically I should have changed, but sometimes I like making my life a little difficult for myself. Obviously, I started changing it for the last three games and it became way easier, and I kind of kicked myself in the head for that.”
AloJapan.com