Japanese star Naomi Osaka came from a break down in the third set to overcome Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the first round of the WTA Brisbane International on Tuesday.
Sakkari sniffed an upset when she won the second set in a tiebreak then broke Osaka’s opening service game of the third set, but the former world No 1 dug deep and won 6-2, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 in a two-hour opening-round clash.
Osaka, the tournament’s third seed, said she was pleased with her first match of the year, after she was forced out of the WTA Finals in October with a shoulder injury.
“I’m really happy with how I served – I had to retire from my last match because of my shoulder thing, so I wasn’t really sure how I was going to serve today,” she said.
“But I was told I hit 16 aces, so that’s pretty good for me.” Sixth-seeded Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens also progressed in three sets, beating Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska 6-4, 1-6, 6-3.
Eighth seed Madison Keys served brilliantly in her impressive 6-3, 6-2 win over Czech qualifier Marie Bouzkova. Russian qualifier Liudmila Samsonova caused an upset when she beat former US Open champion Sloane Stephens.
Samsonova, playing only her seventh main draw WTA tournament, recorded her first victory over a top-30 player with her 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win. In other matches, Yulia Putinseva of Kazakhstan beat Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 and Estonian Anett Kontaveit overpowered Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei 6-4, 6-1.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
Post Disclaimer
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author and forum participants on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Anaedo Online or official policies of the Anaedo Online.