By HOWARD FENDRICH
MELBOURNE, Australia — Naomi Osaka’s second-round match on the Australian Open couldn’t probably have began in a worse manner. All of 21 minutes in, she sailed a forehand service return properly lengthy and, identical to that, trailed 5-0.
Osaka strode to the sideline for the changeover, plopped herself down and draped a white towel over her head, blocking out all sights and leaving her with simply her ideas. She stayed like that all through the break between video games, even manoeuvering a water bottle below that towel to take a drink.
This was not a match towards some unknown opponent, somebody Osaka knew for certain she might beat. It was towards Twentieth-seeded Karolina Muchova, the runner-up on the 2023 French Open and a three-time semifinalist at different majors, together with at Melbourne Park in 2021.
Muchova additionally had defeated Osaka of their two most up-to-date matchups. None of that mattered on this afternoon, although: Osaka forgot about that disappointing begin and got here all the best way again to win 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 on Wednesday.
What was her mindset? “Just be aware and try not to get so negative on yourself. I think, for me, the score in the first set was very dramatic, but there was key points that I could have maybe won a game here or there,” Osaka defined. “So I kept trying to tell myself that.”
This was, in some methods, a major second for Osaka, who as soon as reigned atop girls’s tennis, profitable 4 Grand Slam titles — two on the Australian Open, two on the U.S. Open — and ascending to No. 1 within the WTA rankings. The victory allowed her to succeed in the third spherical at a significant match for the primary time for the reason that 2022 season.
Attending to that stage was not thought-about a giant deal at one level for her. However time without work due to psychological well being breaks after which a being pregnant — Osaka’s daughter, Shai, was born in July 2023 — modified issues.
Since returning to motion a yr in the past, Osaka has proven indicators of getting her recreation again collectively, together with a memorable and slender loss to then-No. 1 Iga Swiatek on the French Open. This, although, adopted a win towards 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist Caroline Garcia in Melbourne and meant the progress is actual.
“It definitely was something that is a goal of mine, especially after last year; I wasn’t able to beat a seed in a Grand Slam,” Osaka stated. “I’m obviously very thankful that happened so early this year.”
She additionally joked about gaining a measure of “revenge” by defeating Garcia — who eradicated Osaka in Melbourne a yr in the past — and Muchova in consecutive matches.
Subsequent for Osaka is a matchup towards Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic, who can be a mom; her daughter, Bella, was born final yr. Each Osaka and Bencic are massive hitters.
“It’s going to be a fun match,” Bencic stated.
Muchova wasn’t the highest-seeded participant to exit Wednesday. That was No. 5 Zheng Qinwen, the runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka on the 2024 Australian Open and the gold medalist on the Paris Video games final August. Zheng misplaced a little bit of focus after being known as for a time violation and by no means managed to counter 97th-ranked Laura Siegemund’s strokes, bowing out 7-6 (3), 6-3 at John Cain Area.
After the chair umpire cited her for taking too lengthy to serve, Zheng hit her subsequent providing so poorly it bounced manner earlier than reaching the web.
“I knew,” the 36-year-old Siegemund stated, “I just had to play more than my best tennis.”
The participant who beat Zheng within the closing 12 months in the past, No. 1-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, stretched her Melbourne Park profitable streak to 16 matches as she eyes a 3rd consecutive title, beating No. 54 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 7-5 at Rod Laver Area.
Different girls’s winners included No. 3 Coco Gauff, No. 7 Jessica Pegula, No. 14 Mirra Andreeva and No. 30 Leylah Fernandez. Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion who has received all seven matches she’s performed this season, now faces Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open runner-up.
Novak Djokovic added to his report assortment by enjoying in his 430th profession Grand Slam match — yet another than Roger Federer — and, although he dropped a set for the second outing in a row with new coach Andy Murray by his facet, moved into the third spherical with a 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 win over Jaime Faria.
Different males advancing included No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz, who joked that he’s now a “serve bot” after hitting 14 aces whereas dismissing Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-1, 6-4.
“The serve’s about confidence and feeling,” Alcaraz stated. “Today I felt great.”
Seeded losers included No. 6 Casper Ruud, a three-time main finalist; No. 22 Sebastian Korda and No. 27 Jordan Thompson.
Ruud was eradicated by 19-year-old Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. Mensik equaled his greatest Grand Slam displaying by attending to the third spherical and joined 18-year-old João Fonseca — who upset No. 9 Andrey Rublev on Tuesday — as the primary pair of teenagers to beat top-10 males on the identical Grand Slam match since Djokovic and Murray did it at Wimbledon in 2006.
