Naomi Osaka won her first clay-court match in exactly two years in the first round of the Madrid Open, defeating lucky loser Greet Minnen 6-4, 6-1 in an hour and 19 minutes. Former World No.1 Osaka hit eight aces and faced only one break point on her way to her first clay court victory since defeating Anastasia Potapova in Madrid’s first round in 2022. The four-time Grand Slam champion will meet No.15 seed Liudmila Samsonova in the second round for the second time this season.
Seven weeks earlier, Osaka overcame Samsonova 7-5, 6-3 in Indian Wells, her first Top 20 win since her comeback. The 26-year-old Japanese player returned from maternity leave in January and is now ranked 197th. Osaka began her clay season last week at the Rouen WTA 250 event, losing in the first round against former Roland Garros semifinalist Martina Trevisan. However, this match pitted her against another player whose best results had come outside the terre battue.
The 26-year-old Minnen, who fell on match point to Emiliana Arango in the final round of qualifying, has only one tour-level win on clay in her career, against Dominika Cibulkova in Stuttgart 2019.
Osaka breezed through her service games in the first set, but she failed to convert any of her first three break-point opportunities before finally breaking in the tenth game to take a one-set lead. The second set was a stroll compared to the first, as Osaka built a 5-0 lead and clinched the victory with a backhand winner.
There’s a basis to my game, and I want to stick to that but also respect the court, Osaka said in the on-court interview. It’s a work in progress for me, but I’m watching a lot more matches on clay, I’m trying to do my homework as best as I can. I feel like there’s beauty to it. I’m taking a lot of inspiration from people that do very well here. I’m not expecting to be like, Iga Swiatek, or something, but I just want to do the best with what I have, she added.
Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu lost in the first round against Maria Lourdes Carle of Argentina in straight sets. Former US Open champion Raducanu had been in fantastic form going into the clay-court tournament, with four victories propelling Britain to the Billie Jean King Cup finals, but she was unable to reproduce that success in the Madrid sunshine. Carle advanced to the second round against 17th seed Veronika Kudermetova, defeating Raducanu 6-2, 6-2.
