Naomi Osaka comeback builds momentum with Doha victory over Petra Martic

Naomi Osaka’s comeback is building long-awaited momentum at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, where she wins back-to-back matches for the first time since her return from maternity leave and defeats Petra Martic, 6-3, 7-6 (9).

Osaka had taken a three-match losing streak into Doha, but after avenging an Australian Open loss to Caroline Garcia, the former world No. 1 made the most of a smaller court assignment and late-evening encounter with Martic on Tuesday, dismissing the Croat in one hour and 45 minutes on Grandstand.

Osaka’s ground game has looked formidable since she played her first match in 16 months at the Brisbane International, but consistency eluded the new mom through defeats there, in Melbourne, and in Abu Dhabi, where she endured what amounted to a rock-bottom loss to Danielle Collins.

After hitting through the big-serving Garcia on Monday, the 26-year-old set to work on doing the same against Martic, breaking serve early and winning the first set with an even 13 winners to 13 unforced errors.

The second set saw Martic battle to keep things on level terms, but Osaka kept pressing and earned a 0-40 lead in the fifth game off a well-struck forehand down the line. A cross-court backhand winner secured the break two points later, and though Martic nabbed the break back, Osaka moved within two games of victory with a backhand return winner.

Osaka saved two break points when it came time to serve for the match, but Martic engineered a third with a forehand passing shot and soon sent the second set hurtling into a tiebreaker.

Martic appeared poised to force a decider when she raced ahead 4-0 and held three set points, but Osaka fought back, saving all three and twice overpowering the Croat to earn match points. Martic saved both as the momentum continued to swing into a third chage-of-ends at nine points-all. Edging to a third match point with a flourish at net, Osaka at last nabbed victory off a Martic double fault.

In the end, Osaka struck 39 winners to just 17 from Martic, and dropped just eight points behind her first serve.

Up next for Osaka is Ukrainian rival Lesia Tsurenko, who continued a day of upsets in Doha with a straight-sets victory over No. 4 seed Ons Jabeur. The win was Tsurenko’s first over a Top 10 opponent since 2019, when the 34-year-old beat none other than Osaka in Brisbane. Osaka and Tsurenko haven’t played since, with their head-to-head tied at one win apiece.