WIMBLEDON, Great Britain -- No.18 seed Naomi Osaka of Japan survived the slice-and-dice game of wily Monica Niculescu of Romania, advancing to the second round of Wimbledon on Tuesday after a 6-4, 6-1 opening-round victory.

The Japanese player, winner of her first WTA singles title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells earlier this year, pipped Niculescu at the very end of the opening frame to claim the one-set lead, then cruised home to defeat the crafty Romanian in a tidy 67 minutes.

Osaka will attempt to make the third round at SW19 for the second year in a row when she faces off against British wild card Katie Boulter, who outlasted Veronica Cepede Royg of Paraguay, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, just moments before Osaka claimed her own win.

It took some time for Osaka to get a handle on the Niculescu game, and the Japanese star made life difficult on herself as well by getting only 38 percent of her first serves into play during the opening set. The pair exchanged breaks en route to 3-3, as a flurry of unforced errors from Osaka caused her to cede a 3-1 lead.

But Osaka’s improved steeliness helped her power through two difficult service games, coming back from 0-30 to hold for 4-3, and making it through a deuce game to hold for 5-4 with a fiery crosscourt winner.

This paid dividends in the following game, when consecutive backhand winners by the hard-hitting No.18 seed gave her a set point. Niculescu had drawn numerous errors from Osaka via her slice forehand throughout the match, but on this point, the Romanian sent that shot long, handing Osaka the one-set advantage.

After hitting 13 winners to Niculescu’s three in the opening set, it appeared that Osaka would have the momentum as the second set began. Indeed, the Japanese player took that momentum to kickstart a seven-game winning streak, including picking up the first five games of the next set.

Osaka improved her highly regarded serve in the second set as well, amping up her first serve percentage and blasting three aces. Osaka powered strong serves at Niculescu for the 5-0 lead, and was quite close to achieving a bagel.

The feisty Romanian, however, had other designs. Niculescu saved four match points on her serve, including one with a cheeky backhand dropshot, and another with a backhand winner which fell into the corner of the court. The former Top 30 player held for 5-1, and put the pressure on Osaka to serve out the match.

But the Top 20 player was up to the task. An ace gave Osaka 40-15 and two more match points, and, finally, on Osaka's sixth opportunity, Niculescu sent a service return long, and Osaka emerged victorious after just over an hour of play.

More to follow...