By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday February 13, 2024
Naomi Osaka continued to progress in her comeback, defeating Petra Martic in Doha to reach the round of 16.
Photo Source: Getty
Out on a sidecourt in Doha, far from the spotlight of the center court, Naomi Osaka continued making strides in her comeback. No muss, no fuss, just a hard-earned straight sets win over Croatia’s Petra Martic to book her spot in the round of 16 at the Qatar Total Energies Open in Doha.
Osaka, who earned the first Top 25 win of her comeback on Monday with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Caroline Garcia, has now notched back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
She saved four set points in the second set tiebreak, after two trades of break earlier in the set, and edged former World No.14 Martic 6-3, 7-6(9) in an impressive display that lasted one hour and 45 minutes.
The four-time Grand Slam champion, who last claimed a WTA title at Miami in 2022, will face Lesia Tsurenko in the round of 16 after the Ukrainian took out Ons Jabeur on Tuesday.
Tsurenko won nine games straight from 3-1 down in the first set, as Jabeur suffered with a knee issue, and earned her first Top 10 win since January of 2019. She snapped a streak of 16 consecutive losses against the Top 10 with the victory.
It was an impressive start for Osaka, who was facing Martic for the first time since defeating her at Stanford in three sets in 2024. She dropped just five points on serve in the opening set, broke for 3-1, and never looked back.
She was reeled back in by Martic in the second set as the World No.67 got much more purchase on return and twice recovered a break to force a tiebreak. From there she earned four set points but could not get over the hump against a determined Osaka.
For her efforts, Osaka has already risen 362 spots in the live rankings, from 747 to 385. She’ll jump inside the Top 300 if she can earn a win over Tsurenko.