Naomi Osaka grabs first win since Australia in Miami opener
Naomi Osaka of Japan earned a much-needed win in the opening round of the Miami Open on Tuesday, defeating Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in nearly two and a half hours.
It was Osaka's first victory since winning her second-round match at the Australian Open in January -- and a step in the right direction after she called her first-round loss at Indian Wells the worst match of her career.
'I knew that I wasn't playing too well, but I thought, 'Let me try to stay on the court as long as possible,' because I consider Miami my home,' Osaka said in her on-court interview.
'(At Indian Wells) I was just over-hitting a lot, so I tried to use my legs. I was going to run into every corner if I had to, and we were going to have to play for three hours if she was going to beat me.'
Osaka used more than her legs. She out-served Starodubtseva with a 10-0 advantage in aces.
Currently ranked No. 61 in the world, the four-time Grand Slam champion is antsy to go further in a main draw and face higher-ranked foes again.
'I want to play with the big dogs so bad, and I just see everyone playing so well, and I want to do the same,' she told reporters. 'But I have to remember it's a process.'
Her next opponent will be No. 24 seed Liudmila Samsonova, who had a first-round bye.
Sofia Kenin got past 2023 Miami champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5. Kenin absorbed 13 aces by Kvitova and converted 4 of 6 break-point chances. She'll face fellow American and third seed Coco Gauff, who also had a bye.
Ashlyn Krueger of the U.S. had the quickest win of the day by beating Mexico's Renata Zarazua 6-3, 6-2 in 70 minutes.
Most of the other matches of the day went three sets. Winners included Americans Taylor Townsend, Hailey Baptiste, Lauren Davis and Alycia Parks, Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania, Linda Fruhvirtova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova, Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova and Switzerland's Rebeka Masarova.
Advancing in straight sets were Romanian Sorana Cirstea, Italian Lucia Bronzetti and Poland's Magda Linette.
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25 minutes ago
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Aryna Sabalenka's ‘terrible' French Open final and the intangibles of tennis
ROLAND GARROS, PARIS — Aryna Sabalenka made no effort to hide her disappointment after losing the French Open final to Coco Gauff Saturday, repeatedly calling her performance 'terrible' and saying it was 'the worst tennis I've played in the last, I don't know how many months.' 'It's just a joke,' she said. Advertisement She offered that analysis once she'd left Court Philippe-Chatrier, after a 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 defeat. In her on-court interview, Sabalenka eschewed the usual platitudes and the customary opening line congratulating the winner and their team, and went straight for self-flagellation. After fighting back tears, she said: 'Honestly guys this will hurt so much, especially after such a tough two weeks, playing great tennis and in these terrible conditions playing such terrible tennis in the final — that really hurts.' 'Coco, congrats in these tough conditions. You were the better player than me. Congrats on a great two weeks,' she said. In her news conference, Sabalenka went for the jugular again. This time, she focused not on her own shortcomings, but on the weather conditions that had defined the type of tennis being played. 'Conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me. I think it was the worst final I ever played.' Advertisement Sabalenka's devastation was understandable. She is the world No. 1 and has now lost two Grand Slam finals in a row, both in three sets, both having been the big favorite. Five months ago, Madison Keys beat her in Melbourne to win her first major, and in Paris Gauff thwarted Sabalenka's bid for the non hard-court slam that would rubberstamp her evolution into an all-court player. The match was on her racket, but Sabalenka hit 70 unforced errors compared to just 37 winners as she struggled to cope with the factors outside of her control. Namely the wind, an inspired Gauff and the pressure of what was at stake. Given the chance to praise Gauff's inspired defensive showing, Sabalenka said that her opponent had won the match 'by running and playing those high balls from the frame,' before saying directly that Gauff had framed, or mishit, numerous shots. 'She was hitting the ball from the frame. Somehow magically the ball lands in the court … Yeah, it's just, you know, like — it felt like a joke, honestly, like somebody from above was just staying there laughing, like, 'let's see if you can handle this.' Advertisement 'I think she won the match not because she played incredible; just because I made all of those mistakes from if you look from the outside, from easy balls.' Tennis is seen as a 50-50 battle, but matchups and gamestyles mean that this is not always the case. Gauff won Saturday's final by assuming the role of supporting actor to Sabalenka the protagonist, knowing that the match was not on her racket and making her greatest assets — her court coverage, lateral movement, and baseline defense — the most important things in the match. She played the conditions. Sabalenka did not, saying afterward that as the match wore on and it got windier, she became 'overemotional.' She compared her unraveling to the last time she played Gauff in a Grand Slam final, at the U.S. Open two years ago. 'Another terrible performance from me against Coco in the final,' she said. Sabalenka added that had the four-time champion Iga Świątek beaten her in Thursday's semifinal, 'I think she would go out today and she would get the win.' Advertisement In her own news conference, Gauff responded. 'I mean, I don't agree with that. I'm here sitting here,' she said. 'Last time I played — no shade to Iga or anything, but I played her and I won in straight sets. Yeah, I don't think that's a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen.' This leaves Sabalenka in a strange place. She remains world No. 1 by a distance, but she hasn't won a Grand Slam title and has been way below her best level in both finals. Throughout the match, she seemed uncomfortable with the shifts in momentum occasioned, in part, by the complicated conditions. But a similar shift happened against Świątek: in both matches, Sabalenka led 4-1, had a point for 5-1, and was pulled back into a tiebreak, one under the roof and one in the open air. Against Świątek under the roof, Sabalenka reset, one less intangible to fight. Against Gauff, the collection of intangibles — the weather, the stakes, the history — appeared to overwhelm her. And for regular watchers of her matches, her reaction to Saturday's defeat was essentially an extension of how she reacts to smaller moments of disappointment within matches: berating herself and not accepting that occasionally her opponents will be too good. This kind of mentality is part of what drives great champions. But is showing it always helpful? Advertisement Her performance coach Jason Stacy was asked this question in a news conference Friday and pointed to one of the team's mantras: 'Don't fight it, don't feed it.' He expanded by saying: 'We don't want to fight this, because the stress, anxiety, the pressure, the mistakes, all those things are going to be there, so you can't pretend it's not going to be a thing, but you don't want to feed it either and give it too much energy or power.' Asked if Sabalenka's frustrations were a boost, Gauff said that she didn't read too much into it, but: 'Obviously when you see your opponent frustrated in any circumstance, if it's tough or not, obviously it does uplift you just because you know that they're frustrated.' Sabalenka will head to the Greek island of Mykonos to recharge and in her words indulge in 'tequila, gummy bears, and swimming.' She laughed as she said that she would be 'like the tourist for couple of days'. But even as she tried to lighten the mood and look ahead to her holiday, she couldn't help but go back to lambasting the events of the previous few hours. Advertisement 'I just need couple of days to completely forget about this crazy world and this crazy — if I could swear, I would swear right now, about this crazy thing that happened today,' she said. 'I think everyone understands. I'm just trying to be very polite right now, but there is no other word that could describe what just happened today on the court.' All things being equal, Sabalenka is undoubtedly the best player in the world. But tennis matches are not equal. It's how she manages the intangibles that can shape them that will define the next phase of her career. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sabalenka takes out Swiatek to reach French Open final
Aryna Sabalenka has reached five of the past seven Grand Slam finals [Getty Images] French Open 2025 Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app World number one Aryna Sabalenka moved a step closer to a maiden French Open title by taking out four-time champion Iga Swiatek in a blockbuster semi-final. Sabalenka will meet second seed Coco Gauff in Saturday's showpiece after the American ruthlessly ended French wildcard Lois Boisson's incredible run. Advertisement Belarus' Sabalenka earned a 7-6 (7-1) 4-6 6-0 victory to end fifth seed Swiatek's 26-match winning run at the tournament. After a slow start on the Roland Garros clay, Poland's Swiatek fought back to level but Sabalenka dominated a 22-minute deciding set. Sabalenka, whose three Grand Slam titles have all come on hard courts, has never reached the Paris final before. "It feels incredible but the job is not done yet. I'm thrilled with my performance," the 27-year-old said. "Iga is the toughest opponent, especially at Roland Garros, I'm proud I managed to get this win." Advertisement Gauff, runner-up to Swiatek in 2022, won 6-1 6-2 against world number 361 Boisson, who was appearing in her first Grand Slam main draw. Sabalenka dominance underlines Swiatek uncertainty This was the potential match that everyone had their eye on when the French Open draw was made: the 'Queen of Clay' against the world number one in the crunch stages. Swiatek and Sabalenka have claimed six of the past 10 majors between them and dominated the WTA Tour over the past three years. But with Swiatek dropping to fifth in the world after a turbulent season, it was Sabalenka who came into Roland Garros as the favourite. Advertisement The magnitude of the eagerly-anticipated encounter appeared to affect both players in an edgy opening set. With the roof closed because of the wet weather in Paris, Sabalenka initially settled quicker in the heavier conditions that suit her game. The pace of Sabalenka's returning was too hot for Swiatek and allowed the top seed to quickly move a double break ahead. Swiatek took a step back in her baseline position to better absorb the pace and, after being a point away from going 5-1 behind, battled back. Iga Swiatek saw her serve broken eight times during the match [Getty Images] The tweak helped a sharper Swiatek elongate the rallies and put more pressure on Sabalenka's serve, with the Pole winning the next three games to move 5-4 ahead. Advertisement With both players looking tight, momentum continued to fluctuate. Swiatek's serve buckled, Sabalenka could not serve out the set at 6-5 and a nervy encounter was ultimately decided on a tie-break dominated by the Belarusian. Three successive breaks - down to quality returning as much as poor serving - began the second set before Swiatek settled down to maintain the advantage and force a decider. However, Swiatek's serve suddenly dropped off again and allowed Sabalenka to quickly reach her fifth final in the past seven Grand Slam tournaments. "I think I lost my intensity a bit," said Swiatek. Advertisement "She played as strong as in the first set, but I didn't react to that well and just couldn't push back." Boisson's thrilling run comes to an end For the first time since 2011, fans had a home player to cheer in the women's semi-finals - and nobody could have guessed it would be Boisson. The 22-year-old's journey from an unknown player returning from serious injury to a Grand Slam semi-finalist competing with the world's best is extraordinary. Boisson was set to be a wildcard entry last year but had to pull out after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament just a week before the French Open began. Advertisement But 12 months on, she returned to make a remarkable run that will never be forgotten by French fans. Taking the scalps of third seed Jessica Pegula and sixth seed Mirra Andreeva put her into a first career semi-final on the biggest stage of all. However, Gauff proved to be a step too far. Despite having the backing of a raucous crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier, the energy provided was not enough to compensate for Boisson's lack of quality. Gauff dominated the rallies, breaking Boisson's serve six times before wrapping up victory in one hour and nine minutes.
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sabalenka rues another missed chance against Gauff in French Open final: 'This one hurts so much'
PARIS (AP) — While Coco Gauff was taking selfies on Court Philippe-Chatrier to celebrate her triumph on the Parisian clay, her opponent on the other side of the umpire's chair was filled with anger and sadness. As Roland-Garros officials prepared the court for the trophy ceremony, Aryna Sabalenka sat with her gaze lost in the distance before she took a towel and covered her face. And when it finally came time to speak, Sabalenka was silent for a long moment, as if on the verge of tears. Advertisement The assessment of her own performance, when she finally took the microphone to address the Roland-Garros crowd, was ruthless. 'Honestly guys, this one hurts so much," she said. 'To show such terrible tennis in the final does really hurt.' The top-ranked Sabalenka won the first set as her high-risk approach brought dividends initially. But once Gauff found her stride, the Belarusian's errors became more and more frequent and she lost the match between the world's two highest-ranked players 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4. Sabalenka hit 37 winners but finished the match with a staggering 70 unforced errors — compared to Gauff's 30. Sabalenka also dropped her serve nine times. Advertisement 'I think I was overemotional,' she said. 'I didn't really handle myself quite well mentally, I would say. So basically that's it. I was just making unforced errors. I think she won the match not because she played incredible; just because I made all of those mistakes from — like, if you look from the outside, kind of like from easy balls." The disappointment was even greater given that Sabalenka has worked hard to adapt her game to the slow surface over the years, and after she ended Iga Swiatek's 26-match unbeaten streak at the French Open in the semifinals. 'You've been playing against a lot of tough opponents, Olympic champion, Iga, and then you go out, and you play really bad,' she said during her post-match interview. 'It was honestly the worst tennis I've played in the last, I don't know how many months." Sabalenka also complained about the weather conditions. The retractable roof over the center court remained open during the final, and Sabalenka was visibly annoyed by bursts of wind sweeping across the court. Advertisement 'Conditions were terrible," the three-time major champion said. 'When she would hit the ball, at some point the wind would just let the ball fly like crazy, and you know, I was late every time.' This was the second major final Sabalenka lost to Gauff, after the 2023 U.S. Open, where she also won the first set. Sabalenka had won their most recent meeting on clay this year in Madrid and thought she had the weapons to beat the American on the biggest stage. 'It's another tough Grand Slam final against Coco,' Sabalenka said. 'Another terrible performance from me against Coco in the final. I have to step back, look at this from a perspective, and try to finally learn the lesson, because I cannot go out there every time against her in Grand Slam finals and play such terrible tennis and give those wins, not easily, but emotionally.' ___ AP tennis: Samuel Petrequin, The Associated Press
