Naomi Osaka’s clay court woes continued in Rome after losing to Jessica Pegula 7-6(2) 6-2.
The world number two admitted previously that learning the clay court trade would take time and this continues to be the case after another early defeat on the surface.
After losing in the second round in Madrid to Karolina Muchova, Osaka knew she needed a quick start in this match and she produced that with the early break for a 2-0 lead.
Pegula’s loss in Madrid was in the third round although that was to the eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka and she had every reason not to be intimidated as she slowly worked her way in the match.
The American reaped her rewards as she took her second break point to bring the match back on serve.
Despite the setback, Osaka continued to dictate play using her athleticism to bring shots back with depth and pace as she was arguably playing the better tennis.
In the latter stages of the set, the Australian Open champion had created three set points before some bold Pegula tennis denied Osaka the set.
Eventually the first set went to a tiebreak which saw the world number 31 be more aggressive and produce some stunning tennis to win seven of the nine points on offer to win the tiebreak 7-2.
In the second set, Osaka fell apart as her backhand, net play and general point construction crumbled quickly.
Pegula offered more in attacking combinations and produced some big serves as she broke three times in the second set.
Despite breaking in the sixth game, it was another disappointing performance from Osaka who conceded defeat in 90 minutes.
As for Pegula she has set up a third round clash with Ekaterina Alexandrova.
In other results so far today Elina Svitolina survived a scare as she edged past Amanda Anisimova 2-6 6-3 6-4 in 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Garbine Muguruza also edged past Bernarda Pera 2-6 6-0 7-5 in just over two hours after the Spaniard struggled with a foot injury.
There were comfortable victories for Ash Barty and Karolina Pliskova while Petra Kvitova was knocked out by Vera Zvonareva 6-4 3-6 6-4.
