ROME — Former No.1 Naomi Osaka returned to the Internazionali BNL d’Italia for the first time since 2021 and won her opener, defeating No.45 Clara Burel 7-6(2), 6-1 in the first round. The win is Osaka’s first Top 50 win on clay since defeating Victoria Azarenka at 2019 Roland Garros.
A quarterfinalist in 2019, Osaka will face No.19 seed Marta Kostyuk in the second round. It will be her second career meeting against Kostyuk, a recent finalist at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix last month. Osaka won their first meeting at the 2020 US Open, winning 6-3 6-7(4) 6-2 in the third round.
Facing Burel for the first time, Osaka steadied herself after a dip in the late stages of the second set. After exchanging seven consecutive holds of serve to open the match, Osaka broke Burel for a 5-3 lead and held a set point at 40-30 as she looked to serve out the set. But a series of forehand misfires gave Burel the break back.
In the tiebreak, Osaka elevated her game at 2-2 to race away with it, closing the set with a clean ace.
Osaka continued her baseline dominance in the second set to seal the win after 1 hour and 24 minutes. She finished with 27 winners, including eight aces, and held Burel to just 10 winners in the match. Notably, Osaka was successful in her forays into the net, winning seven of the ten points in the forecourt.
More to follow…