Indian Wells news: Desert winds not enough to stop Naomi Osaka winning against Sloane Stephens
- Planet Sport writer
- 11 March 2022
The former world No.1 had never beaten Sloane Stephens in her career, before sealing an opening round victory against the American on Friday morning.
Naomi Osaka took to the court on Friday for the first time since her round of 32 loss in the Australian Open.
The 24-year-old had already seen her rank drop to world No.78 due to her inactivity, and a return against America's Sloane Stephens was no easy task.
An opening set loss made it even harder, but Osaka responded well, dominantly securing the next set 6-1 to force a decider.
In the final third set, Stephens started brightly, breaking the Japanese star to race to a 2-0 lead.
But Osaka recomposed herself and fought off three break points en route to winning six successive games and sealing a 3-6 6-1 6-2 victory.
Naomi Osaka wins the last 6 games to beat Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a battle of Grand Slam champ. The former #1 and 2018 IW champion will face Veronika Kudermetova in R2 pic.twitter.com/LOifbE0EDu
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 11, 2022
After booking her spot in the second round, Osaka took a moment to praise her opponent.
"Sloane is such a champion, it was great to be out here again," said Osaka.
The pair faced off in fierce desert winds, making the two-hour match extremely draining for both players.
Following the match, Osaka said the weather conditions certainly had a part to play.
"Hopefully, next time we play will be in more ideal conditions.
"I haven't played in wind like that for a while, so this was very new to me.
"I felt like I was fighting for my life. I was playing against her; I was playing against the wind. It was crazy. I just kept thinking she was going through the same circumstances as me, so I just had to will myself to try as hard as I could."
After 2 years it’s nice to back 🥰🎾🌴 @BNPPARIBASOPEN pic.twitter.com/4wWVWhXZfs
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) March 6, 2022
It proved to be third time lucky for Osaka, who had failed to beat Stephens in the pair's two previous meetings.
In the round of 64, Osaka looks to continue her comeback against Russia's Veronika Kudermetova, who has agreed to play the match under neutral conditions without any flag.
