Former Japanese world No. 1 Naomi Osaka took advantage of an interruption caused by rain to win Wednesday in the second round of the WTA 250 tournament in Auckland against Austrian Julia Grabher 7-5, 6-3.
With the score at 5-5 in the first set, rain forced both opponents off the court for just over an hour, allowing Osaka to recover after, in her words, a start of the match where she was “nervous“.
A little nervousness
The 27-year-old, seeded No. 7 in the tournament, managed to break at the end of the first set and at the start of the second to take control of the match in cool and windy conditions. Osaka's serve was her strong point, with five aces and more than 80% of points won on the second serve.
Although the 57th player in the world was not broken, she struggled on her serve against Grabher, particularly in the first set.
“She was a very difficult opponent to play against.“, declared Osaka about the Austrian, modest 470th in the world. “I felt like I had to focus on myself and try not to be as nervous as I was“, stressed Osaka.
The Nippon has struggled for consistency since returning to the court a year ago, following the birth of her daughter Shai in July 2023. Osaka rose to world No. 1 in early 2019 after winning the first of his two titles won at the Australian Open. The first Grand Slam tournament of the year begins on January 12.
