Four-time Grand Slam singles winner Naomi Osaka has started 2025 in style, beating Julia Grabher 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals of the Auckland tennis classic.
Osaka overcame a swirling breeze and a lengthy rain break to progress comfortably beyond the second round.
Although the wind often affected her ball toss, Osaka didn’t drop her serve at any stage and broke Grabher once in each set to win her way to the Auckland quarter-finals for the second time.
Osaka also reached the last eight on her only previous visit to New Zealand in 2017.
“She was a really tough opponent for me to play against and I felt I just had to concentrate on myself a lot and try not to be as nervous as I felt,” Osaka said.
“I got some great advice from a great coach over there,” Osaka added, referring to Patrick Mouratoglou who recently joined her team and previously had a long association with Serena Williams.
“I just tried to focus on my bullet points and go out swinging if I had to go out. But fortunately I’m here to play another round.”
Osaka again showed no sign of the back injury which ended her 2024 season at the China Open in October. She moved freely, went to the net rarely but effectively and hit hard, especially from the forehand side.
Osaka’s first serve was a powerful weapon and she won 80% of points when she put the serve in play.
The first set was tight, without a break of serve until the 12th game. Osaka came back from the rain delay which came when she was leading 40-15 in the previous game and seemed to step up, holding serve and breaking the Austrian player immediately to take the first set.
She held serve to love in two of her first three service games in the second set, then broke Grabher in the sixth game to go ahead 4-2. Osaka continued to hold serve comfortably, closing out the match on her first match point.
The Auckland tournament is a tune-up for the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 12, and lost some of its star power on Tuesday when former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu withdrew with a back injury. Elise Mertens also pulled out of Auckland with injury, leaving Osaka to face a more open draw.
AP
