Former Miami Open finalist Naomi Osaka survived a first-round scare from Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva, coming from a set and a break down to advance 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in 2 hours and 28 minutes.

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Osaka, the 2022 runner-up to Iga Swiatek, had not won a match since reaching the third round of the Australian Open in January, where she retired trailing Belinda Bencic by a set due to an abdominal injury. Two weeks ago, she fell to Camila Osorio in the first round of Indian Wells in a match she later described as the "worst ... of my career."

It's been a frustrating stretch for Osaka, who made the Auckland final in the first week of the year before the abdominal injury interrupted what she felt had been strong form. That setback had contributed to her nerves in this year's Sunshine Double.

"I want to play with the big dogs so bad, and I just see everyone playing so well, and I want to do the same," she explained to reporters. "But I have to remember it's a process."

However, the former World No. 1 had already learned from the Osorio loss as she took on Starodubtseva for the first time.

"I knew that I wasn't playing too well, but I thought, let me try to stay on the court as long as possible, because I consider Miami my home," Osaka said in her on-court interview. "[In Indian Wells] I was just over-hitting a lot, so I tried to use my legs. I was going to run into every corner if I had to, and we were going to have to play for three hours if she was going to beat me."

Starodubtseva has endured an even leaner season to date, winning just one of her nine 2025 matches ahead of Miami (none in a main draw). But the 25-year-old Old Dominion University graduate found her feet in qualifying this week with wins over Varvara Lepchenko and Tatjana Maria, and pushed Osaka to her limits. Starodubtseva raced out to a 5-0 lead, then advanced to the brink of victory at 6-3, 4-2.

Former World No. 1 Osaka didn't quite need three hours in the end, but still showcased plenty of grit as she improved to 4-0 in three-set matches this year. Next up is No. 24 seed Liudmila Samsonova, with whom she split two meetings last year. Samsonova was a 7-5, 6-3 victor in the second round of Indian Wells, but Osaka took her revenge 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 at the same stage of Madrid.

Head to Head

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50% Win 1

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Turning point: Through the first set-and-a-half, No. 108-ranked Starodubtseva played a near-perfect tactical match. She soaked up all of Osaka's pace and sent it back with impeccable depth, and was able to both redirect the ball for winners and to open the court with sliced backhands. Though she wobbled while trying to close out the first set, Starodubtseva saved three break points at the start of the second and struck a pinpoint forehand winner down the line to break for 4-2.

Two games later, she held two points to extend her lead to 5-3. But she lapsed into error both times, and sent a forehand long to concede the break back. Osaka needed no further encouragement. In the blink of an eye, she delivered her first love service game of the day to advance to 5-4. Starodubtseva could not respond in time, netting a volley and sending a backhand long to lose the set in the next game.

Osaka had landed just 47% of her first serves in the opening set, and uncharacteristically only won 57% of those points. Her numbers improved set by set, and she was near-flawless in the decider. She had a 58% first serve percentage, and dropped just three points behind it. She faced only two break points, both in the fifth game, and saved them both.

Osaka's first-set woes had begun with consecutive double faults to get broken in the second game. But she ended up tallying 10 aces, and closed out the match with two service winners in a row.