Melbourne: Defending champion Naomi Osaka on Wednesday registered an impressive straight-sets victory over Zheng Saisai of China to advance to the third round of the Australian Open.
Osaka, the No.3 seed was twice down a service break before turning on a four-game barrage to progress 6-2, 6-4 at the Margaret Court Arena.
Lost her cool
Interestingly, there was a flash of temper from the 22-year-old Osaka, who was trailing 2-1 in the second set, gave up the advantage point to Zheng and reacted by throwing the racquet down.
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Not so fast!🌬️
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
It's @Zheng_Saisai who breaks Osaka to take a 2-1 lead after dropping the opener#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/7ViV6UT6Jn
">Not so fast!🌬️
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2020
It's @Zheng_Saisai who breaks Osaka to take a 2-1 lead after dropping the opener#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/7ViV6UT6JnNot so fast!🌬️
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 22, 2020
It's @Zheng_Saisai who breaks Osaka to take a 2-1 lead after dropping the opener#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/7ViV6UT6Jn
The two-time Grand Slam champion also threw down a ball and tossed the racquet down again as she slumped to her chair, covering her head with her towel.
"I just wanted to fight, I've been in this position before on this court (a break down in the second set) and I was thinking that I really don't want to play a third set this time," Osaka said.
The former World No.1 is yet to drop a set at this year's tournament and backed up a decisive win over Marie Bouzkova on Monday with a similarly straight-forward victory over Saisai in 80 minutes.
In total, Osaka struck 20 winners and 30 unforced errors and broke serve six times, winning over half of her points played on return and allowing Saisai just five points on her second serve.
"I think I got that all out after my experience at the US Open," Osaka said when asked about being a defending champion at a Grand Slam tournament.
"I just think of it as a new tournament. The only thing that may have changed is that people might want to beat me more. I didn't deal with that well after this tournament last year, I'll tell you. Now I think of it as a nice challenge. Someone wanting to play their best against me is something I have to feel fortunate about, because it's how I get better," she added.
Osaka will next face 15-year-old prodigy Coco Gauff, who recovered from a set down to beat Sorana Cirstea 4-6 6-3 7-5 on Wednesday.
