Osaka avenges Miami loss in Germany
World No. 1 Naomi Osaka didn’t have to wait very long to avenge her loss to Su-Wei Hsieh, and I’m sure the WTA’s newest superstar was happy about it.
Hsieh, the crafty veteran from the Chinese Tapei, took Osaka out just a month ago in the third round of the Miami Open, and had the opportunity to do it again today, this time at the Porshe Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany. However, back-to-back wins were not in the cards for Hsieh, as Osaka seemed to learn from the three set loss in Miami, and played a much cleaner match against the veteran in Stuttgart.
Both Osaka and Hsieh decided to take a month off after Miami, so Stuttgart was both players return to tournament play and the kick off to their clay court seasons.
Hsieh had an opportunity to get out to an early lead at 2–1 in the first set but squandered it, missing two routine second serve returns on break points. The disappointment of not breaking clearly lingered, as Hsieh was easily broken in the very next game thanks to four uncharacteristic unforced errors off the ground from the usually consistent baseliner.
Osaka wouldn’t face a break point on serve for the rest of the set and closed it out beautifully with an approach shot and volley to the open court to take the first set 6–4.
Osaka kept the momentum rolling in the second set breaking Hsieh at love in the very first game of the second. Hsieh continued to feel the pressure of the Osaka return, fighting off a break point 0–2 down to keep the set close.
Despite Hsieh’s efforts, the consistency just wasn’t there for her today which allowed Osaka to play with a lot more freedom compared to the match in Miami. Osaka kept her first serve percentage high and continued to hold her serve comfortably.
Up 5–3, Osaka broke Hsieh for the third and final time of the day, closing out the match 6–4, 6–3.
Osaka’s win against Hsieh solidified her spot on top of the WTA rankings for another week, which will make it 14 consecutive weeks on top for the 21 year-old. She has a great opportunity this clay court season to pull even further away from the rest of the field, as last year Osaka didn’t make it past the third round of a single clay court event, so there are very few points for her to defend.
Osaka will face world No. 25 Donna Vekic tomorrow in the quarterfinals.