Naomi Osaka beat world number 45 Clara Burel 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 in the first round at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
Osaka scored her first top 50 win on clay since beating Victoria Azarenka at 2019 Roland Garros.
Both players exchanged seven consecutive holds at the start of the match before Osaka broke Burel to take a 5-3 lead. The Japanese player held a set point at 40-30, as she was serving out the set, but Burel broke back after a series of misfires from Osaka. After trading mini-breaks at the start of tie-break, Osaka won five consecutive points with two mini-breaks and sealed the tie-break with an ace.
Osaka broke three times to win the second set 6-2 after 1 hour and 24 minutes. She ended the match with 27 winners (including eight aces). Burel hit 10 winners.
Osaka will face Marta Kostyuk, who recently reached the final in Stuttgart. Osaka beat Kostyuk 6-3 6-7 6-2 in the third round of the 2020 US Open.
“I think obviously I was up 5-3. I was serving for the set, and I lost that. I think just being able to hang in there and eventually close it on my terms is something that I am very proud of myself for. I obviously played a lot better. In the second set. I am hoping that when I play my match tomorrow, I am able to learn from my mistakes that I did today and apply them better”, said Osaka.
