Naomi Osaka wins 22nd match on the trot beating Ajla Tomljanović 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the second round at the Miami Open.
Serving into the sun in the final game, Osaka clunked her shot off the lip of her racket, blooping the ball past a stunned Tomljanović.
“That was actually kind of funny when I got past my frustration,” Osaka said. “The sun was like on top of a cloud, and it gave off this really weird glare effect. It was kind of my fault for being stubborn and not trying to catch my toss and wait it out.”
One more win and Osaka will have her best showing in five appearances in Miami, where she has always made early exits.
“I don’t think there’s too much you can read into them,” Osaka said. “I think there’s always a reason I haven’t done well here, and hopefully I’m able to do well this time.”
In men’s categories, No. 3-seeded Alexander Zverev double-faulted three times on breakpoint and went down against No. 83-ranked Emil Ruusuvuori, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. Zverev was coming off a run to the title last week in Acapulco.
Meanwhile, No. 1-seeded Daniil Medvedev required less than an hour to beat 37-year-old Yen-hsun Lu 6-2, 6-2. Three other seeded men lost — No. 8 David Goffin, No. 9 Grigor Dimitrov and No. 30 Reilly Opelka.
