ROME -- Naomi Osaka describes herself as a pacifist, but she knows good competition when she sees it. As she walked onto Court Centrale at the Foro Italico for her first match in three years at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, the former World No.1 was blasting Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" in her headphones. 

When asked if she wanted to side with either party in the battle of diss tracks between Lamar and Drake that has taken over the music world over the past few days, Osaka smirked and chose her words carefully. 

"I'm a neutral party," Osaka told reporters. "However, Kendrick dropped some heat with that last song. That last song is amazing, and I played it walking onto the court. 

"Currently, I think Kendrick's doing a good job."

Given her peaceful nature, does Osaka think Lamar should pump the brakes on any more diss tracks? 

The answer was as emphatic as her serve: nope. 

"OK, but technically, though, Kendrick dropped that song, then Drake dropped 'The Heart Part 6,' so technically Kendrick could drop another two if he wanted to," Osaka said. "Me being a Kendrick fan, I haven't gotten this many Kendrick songs in a very long time. If he wants to keep dropping ..."

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On Wednesday in Rome, it was a job well done for Osaka. She defeated No.45 Clara Burel 7-6(2), 6-1 in the first round. The win is Osaka's first Top 50 win on clay since defeating Victoria Azarenka at 2019 Roland Garros. 

A quarterfinalist in 2019, Osaka will face No.19 seed Marta Kostyuk in the second round. It will be her second career meeting against Kostyuk, a recent finalist at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix last month. Osaka won their first meeting at the 2020 US Open, winning 6-3 6-7(4) 6-2 in the third round. 

Facing Burel for the first time, Osaka steadied herself after a dip in the late stages of the second set. After exchanging seven consecutive holds of serve to open the match, Osaka broke Burel for a 5-3 lead and held a set point at 40-30 as she looked to serve out the set. But a series of forehand misfires gave Burel the break back. 

"I was just telling myself, like, my forehand's one of my biggest weapons, and I shouldn't be too discouraged," Osaka said. "I knew the shots that I was going for that I missed were good-intentioned.

"I was just telling myself that was probably a result of nerves and I just have to keep going for my shots and eventually or hopefully they start going in."

Osaka beats Burel in Rome opener

In the tiebreak, Osaka elevated her game at 2-2 to race away with it, closing the set with a clean ace. 

Osaka continued her baseline dominance in the second set to seal the win after 1 hour and 24 minutes. She finished with 27 winners, including eight aces, and held Burel to just 10 winners in the match. Notably, Osaka was successful in her forays into the net, winning seven of 10 points in the forecourt. 

"I think obviously I was up 5-3, I was serving for the set, and I lost that," Osaka said, "I think just being able to hang in there and eventually close it on my terms is something that I'm very proud of myself for. I obviously played a lot better in the second set. I'm hoping that when I play my match tomorrow, I'm able to learn from the mistakes that I did today and apply them better."