Naomi Osaka survives opening scare, hits reset in Miami: "I just want to play with the big dogs"

MIAMI, USA— One week after apologizing to fans for “the worst match” she’s ever played in her life, Naomi Osaka was back in the winners circle at the Miami Open.

This match on Tuesday wasn’t pretty either, as she trailed Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva by a set and a break. But Osaka rallied for a much-needed win nonetheless after two and a half hours, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

"I was going to run into every corner if I had to, and we were going to have to play for three hours if she was going to beat me,” Osaka said in her on-court interview.

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After falling to Camila Osorio in straight sets in Indian Wells, Osaka headed to Miami early, telling Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj that opted for a one-week training block to acclimate to conditions and work on building back her stamina.

That work showed as the former world No. 1 out-gunned Starodubtseva in the crucial moments, striking 27 winners and hitting 10 aces, and showed off her improved movement as she covered the court to redirect the Ukrainian’s groundstrokes.

The result was Osaka’s first match win since reaching the third round of the Australian Open—where she retired with an abdominal injury against the resurgent Belinda Bencic.

Osaka is still navigating her way back to peak form after returning from a 15-month break, having stepped back from the game due to mental health and after giving birth to daughter Shai in 2023. The 27-year-old had started the year by reaching her first final since 2022 in Auckland, but she withdrew from that match with an abdominal injury that continued to affect her in Melbourne.

“Definitely it was a little bit of a let down to be injured right at the start of the season, especially when I thought I was playing pretty well,” Osaka said in her post-match press conference.

“And I think my nerves have to do with that. I just want to play with the big dogs so bad. I just see everyone playing so well, and I want to do the same. But I have to remember it's a process.”

I just want to play with the big dogs so bad. I just see everyone playing so well, and I want to do the same. But I have to remember it's a process.

For Osaka, one of the WTA’s “big dogs” includes five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek. The Japanese player got the perfect confirmation that her comeback was on the right track last year, when she pushed Swiatek to three sets at Roland Garros and even earned a match point before the Pole rallied, 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5.

It’s a match that she won’t rewatch—Osaka hates seeing herself on tape, and hearing the sound of her voice on video—but she says it’s one she still takes inspiration from.

“That match is really important to me, because I don't typically feel good about my game on clay. To do so well against her, where she's won like three or four French Opens, it was a really good confidence-booster,” she said.

“And I do think about that match sometimes when I'm having a hard day, like today.”

Osaka, a finalist here in 2022, will next face No. 24 seed Liudmila Samsonova, who moved into the second round after receiving a bye.

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