The Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka was eliminated in the first round of the WTA 1000 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati (USA) with a prize fund of 2,527,250 USD. The former world’s number 1 was defeated by Chinese Zhang Shuai with 0-2 (4:6, 5:7) in a match that lasted 75 minutes.
This is only Naomi Osaka’s third tournament since her return to the court. Last week, the Japanese tennis player also dropped out of the start in Toronto, withdrawing due to lower back pain. For Zhang Shuai, who became the doubles champion in Cincinnati last year, it was her first singles victory at the tournament since 2014.
“Naomi is amazing, but maybe she wasn’t feeling well today. It was definitely not her best version”, commented Zhang Shuai after the match.
One break in the first game was enough for the Chinese tennis player to win by 6:4 in the first set. In the second set she led by 5:3, Naomi Osaka equalized, but the Zhang Shuai reached success. The Japanese player served 10 aces, but also made 29 unforced errors.
Zhang Shuai’s next opponent will be the Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, who eliminated the 13th-seeded Leylah Annie Fernandez with 2-0 (6:4, 7:5).
The 12th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland was also eliminated after losing to Sorana Cîrstea (Romania) with 1-2 (2:6, 7:6, 4:6) in two hours and 39 minutes of play. Sorana Cîrstea will face Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic in the second round of the tournament.
The Belgian Elise Mertens had no problems at the start and recorded success over the Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina with 2-0 (6:1, 6:1) in just 55 minutes. Elise Mertens awaits the winner of the clash between Venus Williams (USA) and Karolína Pliskova (Czech Republic).
