Naomi Osaka’s resurgence continued at the Miami Open as she produced a brilliant display to beat Elina Svitolina and with it will come another rise in the WTA Rankings.
Playing in only her 12th match since she returned to the WTA Tour following the birth of her first child, a daughter named Shai last July, Osaka produced what she described as “one of my best matches”.
The four-time Grand Slam winner secured a confident 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory over the world No 17 to set up yet another clash against her “friend” and “work buddy” Caroline Garcia.
Osaka didn’t face a single break point in the first set as she broke in games six and eight while she again broke in game six of the second set before Svitolina got back on terms three games later. However, the Japanese player edged the tie-breaker.
“I definitely do think it was one of my best matches, if not the best match,” the former world No 1 said. “But I also want myself to play better and better every match.
“I feel like for me going into the match, I knew that she’s a great player, and I had no choice but to play really well if I wanted a chance to win.”
Naomi Osaka’s Rankings Rise
Having started the year at No 833 following her inactivity in 2023, Osaka returned to the top 300 in February after reaching the quarter-final of the Qatar Open.
She began the Miami Open at No 229 but will crack the top 200 again with her win over Svitolina seeing her jump 38 places to No 191 in the Live Rankings.
Up next is Garcia in what will be their third meeting since the start of the year. The Frenchwoman won their opening match at the Australian Open before Osaka returned the favour in the first round of the Qatar Open.
“Man, we’re friends at this point. We’re just, you know, work buddies. We see each other all the time. It’s funny. I just want to be seeded so I can just stop playing her, like,” she joked.
“She [Garcia] is an amazing player. I know this. Every match we play is really difficult. It’s just going to be interesting playing on these courts because I really like these hard courts.”
But Naomi Osaka has bigger fish to fry in the long term as she wants to win titles.
“Obviously, I want to win tournaments, but I know I have to take it one step at a time,” she said. “Just winning matches. The more matches I win, the more comfortable I’ll be … and hopefully that will lead to holding something above my head one day.”
