Naomi Osaka beat Frenchwoman Clara Burel 7-6 (2), 6-1 to advance to the second round of the Italian Open at the Foro Italico in Rome.
In what was the former world No 1’s first appearance at the Italian Open since 2019, Osaka laboured to a first-set lead as she required a tiebreak to nudge ahead of her opponent.
With the opener in the bag, however, Osaka began to swing freely as Burel faded quickly. The second set was a quick and one-sided affair, with Osaka showing her shot-making prowess by powering to a 6-1 win to take the match and move into the second round in Rome.
Clay has never been Osaka’s best surface, as she has openly admitted in the past. Today was not her breathtaking best, but the four-time Grand Slam champion can take great confidence from a promising performance to kick off her first Italian Open campaign in five years.
She will face No 19 seed Marta Kostyuk next, in what is likely to be a significant step up in quality.
Rome WTA 1000, other first-round results (Foro Italico, clay, USD 5.509.771, most recent results first):
- Sara Errani vs. Amanda Anisimova
- Rebecca Sramkova vs. Giorgia Pedone
- Federica Di Sarra vs. Varvara Gracheva
- Yafan Wang vs. Katie Volynets
- Daria Saville vs. Clara Tauson
- Anastasia Potapova vs. Xiyu Wang
- Nadia Podoroska vs. Sara Sorribes Tormo
- Renata Zarazua vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto
- Sofia Kenin vs. Lucia Bronzetti: wednesday
- Rebeka Masarova vs. Irina-Camelia Begu: wednesday
- Petra Martic vs. Mayar Sherif: wednesday
- Maria Lourdes Carle vs. Laura Siegemund: wednesday
- Katerina Siniakova vs. Nuria Brancaccio: wednesday
- Magda Linette beat Lin Zhu: 6-3, 6-2
- Bernarda Pera (Q) beat Caroline Dolehide: 7-6 (6), 6-3
- Brenda Fruhvirtova (Q) beat Taylor Townsend: 3-6, 6-2, 6-0
- Aliaksandra Sasnovich (Q) beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova: 6-2, 7-6 (6)
- Anna Blinkova beat Diane Parry: 6-2, 6-3
- Lesia Tsurenko beat Donna Vekic: 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5)
- Tatjana Maria beat Linda Fruhvirtova (Q): 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-2
- Elina Avanesyan beat Cristina Bucsa: 6-7 (3), 6-0, 7-5
- Diana Shnaider beat Greet Minnen: 6-2, 6-3
- Magdalena Frech beat Ashlyn Krueger: 7-6 (2), 6-3
- Angelique Kerber beat Lauren Davis: 6-1, 6-0
- Lucrezia Stefanini (WC) beat Vittoria Paganetti (WC): 7-5, 6-3
- Ana Bogdan beat Leylah Fernandez: 6-4, 6-1
- Xinyu Wang beat Yue Yuan: 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
- Camila Osorio beat Arantxa Rus: 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
- Yulia Putintseva beat Martina Trevisan (WC): 6-3, 6-4
- Paula Badosa beat Mirra Andreeva: 6-2, 6-3
- Shelby Rogers beat Lisa Pigato (WC): 6-1, 6-0
