The world no. 12 Naomi Osaka started her clay-court campaign for the season at the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart with a win over Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei by 6-4 and 6-3.
Osaka managed to gain the win after she fired 22 winners and also managed to convert her 3 of total 6 break points to complete the win in 84 minutes as she now sets up a match against Croatian player Donna Vekic.
Osaka said, “I felt as if this surface suited me more than it did my opponent. It was sort of my plan today. So it felt like I executed it perfectly like I thought I would.”
As for Angelique Kerber, the 2-time champion of the tournament, she also advanced into the next round after defeating Germany’s Andrea Petkovic by 6-2 and 6-4.
Fifth-seeded player of the tournament saved 2 break points to draw the game at 2-2 before she went on to win 4 consecutive games to take back the control.
Kerber will now play against the 6th seeded Kiki Bertens who defeated Belinda Bencic by 4-6, 6-3 and 6-4.
In other matches, the world no. 7 Anastasija Sevastova also moved up into the event with a win over the former champion, Germany’s Laura Siegemund by 6-4 and 6-3. With this win, she has set herself a meeting against Petra Kvitova.
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