Naomi Osaka moved ahead at the WTA 1000 Indian Wells Open after defeating Sloane Stephens by 2-1 (3:6, 6:1, 6:2) in the first round. The match took almost 2 hours and was played with very strong wind.
In a clash between two former US Open champions, Naomi Osaka had problems in the first set, which turned out to be her first match since January. In the second, however, she switched to another speed and took a 4:0 lead, when her servee and returns suddenly improved dramatically. After exchanging serve games, it was the turn of the Japanese, who equalized the sets with a strong backhand volley from the line.
American Sloane Stephens, who won the tournament in Guadalajara last month, took a 0:2 lead in the third set and had the breakpoint, but Naomi Osaka saved it.
But that proved crucial as Naomi Osaka picked up speed again and won the next six games. For the Japanese, this is the first victory over this rival, who could have stayed a little longer in the match, but at the last opportunity sent the ball into the net.
“I didn’t play in that wind, so it was something really new for me”, said Naomi Osaka in a post-match interview. “I felt like I was fighting for my life. I played against Sloan, I played against the wind, it’s crazy. But I am aware that she is also going through the circumstances that I am going through. So I was aware – if I want to win, I have to invest hard and fight for victory”, added she.
The four-time Grand Slam champion and former world leader is currently the world’s No 78. She returned after a long battle with emotional problems. In the second round, she will meet Veronika Kudermetova.
Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, falls for the first time in her three games against Naomi Osaka. She slipped to the world’s No 38, although she arrived in Indian Wells as the winner of last week’s tournament in Mexico.
In the other matches of the first round, Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan, Daria Saville, and Tereza Martincova took straight-set victories. Shelby Rogers, a quarterfinalist in this tournament last year, needed nearly three hours to eliminate Nuria Parrizas-Diaz (Spain) with 2-1 (6:1, 5:7, 7:6).
