Another day, one other win for Naomi Osaka at Miami Open

Naomi Osaka certain looks like herself once more.

The former world No. 1 is thru to the third spherical on the Miami Open, simply dealing with Thirteenth-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday. It was each bit as one-sided because the rating made it appear, with Osaka profitable 89% of first-serve factors and 61 of the 100 factors performed within the match total.

“It means a lot to me,” mentioned Osaka, unseeded in Miami after falling to No. 77 on this planet as a result of she’s missed sufficient time to give attention to her psychological well being in recent times. “She’s the first high-seeded player I’ve beaten this year.”

And in the case of high-ranked opponents, the drought was even longer.

Kerber is ranked fifteenth on this planet; The final time Osaka defeated a top-15 ranked participant was when she topped then-No. 10 Serena Williams within the 2021 Australian Open semifinals. Osaka went on to win that event and hasn’t been to a ultimate since, however her win over Kerber _ who had been 4-1 towards Osaka coming into Thursday _ definitely made her look the a part of a Miami contender.

“I went into the match just really wanting to play my game,” mentioned Osaka, who has but to drop a set in her two matches in Miami; she beat Astra Sharma 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday. “I nonetheless have the recollections of all of the matches she’s overwhelmed me earlier than. So yeah, I simply needed to play in addition to I may. It labored out.”

Dominant from Naomi

@naomiosaka defeats Kerber in an hour and units up a third-round conflict with Muchova!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/Dglp568tlP

— wta (@WTA) March 24, 2022

Kerber’s loss was a part of a tricky day for seeded gamers on the ladies’s aspect.

No. 11 Emma Raducanu, No. 15 Elina Svitolina, No. 18 Leylah Fernandez, No. 25 Daria Kasatkina, No. 31 Alize Cornet and No. 32 Sara Sorribes Tormo have been all defeated Thursday.

Olympic doubles gold medalist Katarina Siniakova of the Czech Republic wanted slightly below three hours to beat Raducanu, the reigning US Open champion, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. Siniakova was practically lowered to tears whereas getting labored on throughout a medical time-out within the first set due to an upper-body damage.

“I think I just felt better as the match was going on,” Siniakova mentioned. “I was fighting in the beginning.”

Svitolina, who had a lot of followers carrying pro-Ukraine shirts watching her match in tribute to her homeland, misplaced to Britain’s Heather Watson 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Fernandez _ a US Open finalist final yr _ misplaced to Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Muchova, who hasn’t performed for the reason that US Open practically seven months in the past due to an belly damage, will face Osaka for a spot within the spherical of 16.

“For me, it was a win to play and compete again,” Muchova mentioned.

Cornet misplaced to Alison Riske of the US 6-2, 6-2. Kasatkina fell to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 7-6 (5), 6-4, and Sorribes Tormo was ousted by Kaia Kanepi of Estonia 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.

No. 9 seed Danielle Collins of the US escaped the upset bug, holding off Anna Bondar of Hungary 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. No. 8 seed Ons Jabeur of one other winner, getting previous Poland’s Magda Linette 7-6 (1), 6-2.

Among the lads’s winners was Sebastian Korda of the US, who made the quarterfinals at Miami final yr. He rolled previous Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 6-1, 6-1 in a first-round match, getting off the court docket in simply over an hour on a summer-like day in South Florida.

“I’m a Florida boy,” Korda mentioned. “I like the humidity. Heat and humidity, these are my two favourite issues. I simply play some actually good tennis in them.”