After 26 aces combined, Osaka holds off Danilovic
WTA
Homborg (Germany)
In a battle of serving excellence at the Bad Homburg Open powered by Solarwatt on Monday, former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka came out on top.
Osaka of Japan edged past Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic 7-6(6), 7-6(4) in a gripping first-round showdown at the WTA 500 grass-court event. Currently ranked 57th in the PIF WTA Rankings, Osaka took 2 hours and 5 minutes to best World No. 37 Danilovic.
This year's leader in percentage of first-serve points won, Osaka had 16 aces, although Danilovic was not too far behind with 10 aces of her own.
'It's my first grass-court win of the year, so I'm really excited about that,' Osaka said on court, after the match.
'I think I have potential [on grass], but everyone else is also really good,' the main-draw wild card continued. 'I can never take it for granted, the wins. Just super excited that I won today.'
The victory halts Osaka's three-match losing streak. After a Round-of-16 loss to Peyton Stearns at Rome, Osaka fell to Top 20 players in her next two matches: Paula Badosa in the Roland Garros first round and Liudmila Samsonova last week in Berlin.
With a win under her belt, Osaka now advances to a second-round meeting with No. 5 seed Emma Navarro of the United States. Navarro defeated Osaka in their only previous meeting, which was also on grass – a 6-4, 6-1 win for the American at Wimbledon last year.
Meanwhile, another former World No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, also won her Bad Homburg first-round match on Monday. Two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka moved past wild card Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-2.
Azarenka will now face former World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the second round.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Qatar Tribune
5 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
French Open semi-finalist Boisson out in Wimbledon qualifying
London: French Open semi-finalist Lois Boisson has been knocked out in the first round of qualifying for Wimbledon. The 22-year-old enjoyed an incredible run at Roland Garros earlier this month as a wild card, reaching the final four where she was beaten by eventual champion Coco Gauff. Boisson's attention then turned to Wimbledon, but in her opening qualifier on Tuesday she was defeated by Canadian Carson Branstine, who claimed a 6-2, 6-7 (1-7), 6-4 victory. The main draw at Wimbledon begins on Monday. (PA Media/DPA)
Qatar Tribune
5 hours ago
- Qatar Tribune
Wimbledon to honour two-time champion Andy Murray with statue
PA Media/dpa London Wimbledon plan to honour Sir Andy Murray with a statue at the All England Club. Murray, the Wimbledon men's singles champion in 2013 and 2016, retired last year and will be involved in designing the sculpture. Wimbledon hope the statue will be revealed in 2027 during the championship's 150th anniversary. 'We are looking to have a statue of Andy Murray here (Wimbledon) and we're working closely with him and his team,' All England club chair Debbie Jevans told the ainslie + ainslie Performance People podcast. 'The ambition is that we would unveil that at the 150th anniversary of our first Championship, which was 1877. 'He's got to rightly be very involved in that and him and his team will be.' Tennis greats John McEnroe and Billie Jean King are among those that have previously called for Murray to be honoured with a statue at Wimbledon. The Scot ended a 77-year wait for a British man to be crowned Wimbledon singles champion and retired after the Paris Olympics last August. Jevans said: 'We had a great celebration for Andy when he played his last (Wimbledon) match, which was on Centre Court. 'All the old players came and they greeted him and Sue Barker interviewed him. 'We looked at Rafa Nadal having that sort of plaque unveiled to him at Roland Garros which was all very special. But we thought, what do we want for Andy?' A bronze statue of Fred Perry, the last British men's champion before Murray, was erected at Wimbledon in 1984 to mark the 50th anniversary of his first singles championship.
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
After 26 aces combined, Osaka holds off Danilovic
WTA Homborg (Germany) In a battle of serving excellence at the Bad Homburg Open powered by Solarwatt on Monday, former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka came out on top. Osaka of Japan edged past Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic 7-6(6), 7-6(4) in a gripping first-round showdown at the WTA 500 grass-court event. Currently ranked 57th in the PIF WTA Rankings, Osaka took 2 hours and 5 minutes to best World No. 37 Danilovic. This year's leader in percentage of first-serve points won, Osaka had 16 aces, although Danilovic was not too far behind with 10 aces of her own. 'It's my first grass-court win of the year, so I'm really excited about that,' Osaka said on court, after the match. 'I think I have potential [on grass], but everyone else is also really good,' the main-draw wild card continued. 'I can never take it for granted, the wins. Just super excited that I won today.' The victory halts Osaka's three-match losing streak. After a Round-of-16 loss to Peyton Stearns at Rome, Osaka fell to Top 20 players in her next two matches: Paula Badosa in the Roland Garros first round and Liudmila Samsonova last week in Berlin. With a win under her belt, Osaka now advances to a second-round meeting with No. 5 seed Emma Navarro of the United States. Navarro defeated Osaka in their only previous meeting, which was also on grass – a 6-4, 6-1 win for the American at Wimbledon last year. Meanwhile, another former World No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, also won her Bad Homburg first-round match on Monday. Two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka moved past wild card Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-2. Azarenka will now face former World No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the second round.
