OSAKA TURNS UP THE HEAT IN MIAMI
Rival Kerber swept aside
NAOMI OSAKA recorded her best win for a year as she beat fellow former world No.1 Angelique Kerber at the Miami Open.
The Japanese star revealed she has spoken to a therapist for the first time after breaking down in tears when she was heckled during her defeat by Veronika Kudermetova at Indian Wells earlier this month.
And the four-time Grand Slam champion, who is down to world No.77, rediscovered her old form with a one-sided 6-2 6-3 victory over the No.13 seed to reach the third round. Osaka, who has spoken openly about her battle with depression, had lost her past four matches against the German since the 2017 US Open.
“She’s the first high-seeded player I’ve beaten this year,” said Osaka. “I went into the match just really wanting to play my game and I still have memories of all the matches she’s beaten me before.
“I came into the match wanting to dictate and, actually, I wanted to come into the net if I needed to… that’s something I’m practising and hopefully as I keep playing it will get better.” Two more former world No.1s – Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza – pulled out of the tournament with injuries.
Ash Barty has admitted she would “never say never” about returning to professional tennis following her shock retirement at the age of 25.
Barty had said she was “spent” and was leaving the sport to “chase after other dreams”.
The three-time Grand Slam champion urged the media to be “patient” for any announcement about her future plans and joked about playing pro golf.
She is also likely to work with indigenous youth projects and as a tennis coach.
But asked about the chances of making a tennis comeback, the world No.1 said: “Well, you never say never, it’s a long way off.”
Barty’s coach Craig Tyzzer revealed she had talked about quitting the sport after her first Major triumph at the 2019 French Open.
He said: “The first thing she said to me was, ‘Can I retire now’? I sort of went, ‘Hang on, I’m not ready for that’. Yeah, look, it’s not a shock to me.”