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Naomi Osaka finds new motivation in Miami Open victory over Hailey Baptiste - 'I didn't really have the fight in me'
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Published 22/03/2025 at 23:02 GMT
Naomi Osaka recorded a hard-fought, three-set, three-hour victory against world No. 98 Hailey Baptiste on Saturday at the Miami Open to reach the last 16 in Florida, and admitted concern over the effort required. Also on Saturday, fellow Grand Slam winner Coco Gauff eased past Maria Sakkari as she continued her impressive form at the tournament in the United States.
Naomi Osaka
Image credit: Getty Images
Naomi Osaka defeated Hailey Baptiste and Coco Gauff overcame Maria Sakkari as the pair reached the last 16 of the Miami Open on Saturday.
Osaka’s 7-6(6) 3-6 6-4 win means she will face No. 6 seed Jasmine Paolini for a place in the quarter-finals.
Victory for the Japanese player would equal her best result at a WTA 1000 tournament since her comeback from maternity leave, having reached the last eight at the Doha Open in February 2024.
Baptiste, ranked No. 98 in the world, was the clear underdog from the start, but she made Osaka work hard throughout.
Osaka sent down 13 aces, with Baptiste producing nine as the two showcased their talents from the baseline.
The Grand Slam winner needed a tie-break to claim the first set, and then lost the second to set up a decisive third.
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In the final set, Baptiste moved a break ahead and was serving at 4-3 in her favour, but Osaka was able to break back and then hold her serve.
Osaka then broke her opponent for a fifth time and rounded off the match just three seconds shy of three hours.
Speaking after her win at a press conference, Osaka said that her battling performances had given her confidence that she had the right mentality.
"For me, it’s really hard because last year I was coming back from not even being in my greatest form - does that make sense?" she said.
"When I stopped playing, I didn’t really have the fight in me anymore. I think a big basis of my game is fighting and just trying to stay as mentally strong as I can.Â
"Last year I had some good matches, but there were other matches where I felt like, since I didn’t play perfect, it was really difficult to win, and I just couldn’t get over that hump.
"This year I’ve already played a couple of scrappy matches.
"I think the fight kind of got me over it. Then I realised, like, you need to play a lot of matches like that to be, I guess, one of the great ones.
"So I’m hoping that I can continue."
Osaka said she hoped that the exertions would not deplete her energy levels ahead of the rest of the tournament.
"I haven’t been able to play super-long matches, so it was really nice to get the experience," she explained. "I feel fine right now. I’m not sure about tomorrow morning. But I also feel like I’ve built up a pretty good tolerance and fitness. I’m hoping it doesn’t take that much out of me."
She added that the support she receives from the fans in Florida made the tournament a special one, explaining: "It definitely means a lot to me; I think coming and playing this tournament, I definitely see a lot more Haitian flags than anywhere else.
"Maybe the only other place would be New York. But Miami definitely has a lot more. I also feel like it’s kind of a homecoming for me because I did grow up here. I just feel, I don’t know, a different type of energy."
Gauff found her match against Sakkari far more demanding than her opening contest, a two-set bagel against Sofia Kenin in just 47 minutes.
The 21-year-old American levelled her head-to-head record with a 6-2 6-4 victory in her 10th match against Sakkari, as she looks to move beyond the last 16 in Miami for the first time in her career.
Sakkari has struggled for form since the Olympics and is yet to win back-to-back wins since the tournament in Paris last summer.
Gauff’s next opponent will be Magda Linette who got the better of Linda Fruhvirtova.
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