Osaka eases by Kerber to advance at Miami Open

MIAMI – After an uneven start to the 2022 season, Naomi Osaka seems to have found peace and relative quiet at the Miami Open.

For the second straight day, the 24-year-old from Japan scored a straight-sets victory here, this time a 6-2, 6-3 Thursday decision against No.13 seed Angelique Kerber. It was over in exactly one hour.

Saturday’s third-round opponent is a mild surprise; playing her first match in seven months after an abdominal injury, Karolina Muchova defeated fellow Czech Tereza Martincova in a first-round match Wednesday. Muchova followed it up a day later with an impressive upset of No.18 seed Leylah Fernandez, 6-4, 7-6 (3).

Osaka and Muchova split their two previous matches, both times going the distance.

“She’s to me one of the most athletic players on tour,” Osaka said. “It’s going to be a really fun match I think. I know we both really want to win it."

Miami Open: Order of Play | Draw | 411

Through a quirk in the schedule, the Osaka-Kerber match featured the two women with the most Grand Slam singles titles in the draw, four and three, respectively. Neither player, however, started the year particularly well, with Kerber winning only two of five matches and Osaka losing in the third round of the Australian Open, skipping the Dubai and Doha and falling to Veronika Kudermetova in her second match at Indian Wells.

Osaka wasted no time taking control of the match, stroking a backhand winner down the line to break Kerber in the second game. With Kerber serving down 5-2, Osaka broke her again, converting her second set point when Kerber’s sprayed a forehand well long.

The second set was more of the same as Osaka, a decade younger than Kerber, controlled the points with deep, confident groundstrokes. Osaka took her third match point when another Kerber forehand sailed long.

Miami Open: Thursday's results

• Siniakova edges Raducanu
• Osaka eases by Kerber 
• Muchova upsets Fernandez in return to action

“She’s like the first high-seeded player I’ve beaten this year,” Osaka said in her on-court interview. “I feel like I came into the match wanting to dictate. My power on the shots was working really well.”

Osaka served exceptionally well – with six aces, no double faults – winning 24 of 27 first-serve points. She hasn’t been broken in four sets.

History doesn’t repeat itself: Coming in, Kerber held a 4-1 career head-to-head advantage over Osaka. She was only one of two women to defeat Osaka four times, joining Simona Halep. Kerber had won the past four matches, although the two hadn’t met in more than three years.

New perspective: After defeating Astra Sharma 6-3, 6-4 in the first round, Osaka revealed that she has been talking with a therapist since Indian Wells and reflected on her place in the game.

“I kind of realize anything that I do from this point is like a bonus,” she said. “Of course, I want to win all the tournaments that I play. I want to win more Grand Slams. But at this point in my life, I just want to be grateful for being healthy.

“There’s a lot of really good players that might get injured or might get sick. I actually haven’t gotten injured ever. Granted my career is quite short. I’ve been able to achieve a lot. Hopefully I achieve more. But I think I need to stay grounded.”