Osaka starts her Toronto campaign with a banger as she sends Jabeur home with just four lost games.
Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka earned a statement win in her opening match at the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto after delivering one of her best performances of the year to dismantle ninth-seeded Ons Jabeur.
What was expected to highlight first-round action in Toronto, ended up being a pretty one-sided battle as Osaka – now ranked at No. 95 in the world – gave no chance to three-time Grand Slam finalist Jabeur en route to sealing a 6-3 6-1 win in an hour and 11 minutes of play.
Early in the match, Osaka got a break and pretty much dominated the match right from start to finish as the Japanese four-time Grand Slam champion claimed four breaks, all while not facing a single break point during the match.
After beating Jabeur in their first meeting since the 2021 Australian Open and improving to 2-0 in their head-to-head, Osaka now plays next against Elise Mertens, who beat Katie Volynets in the first round.
So far this year, Osaka and Mertens have already met twice as the Japanese lost in Indian Wells but managed to beat the Belgian in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
How Osaka ousted Jabeur?
After breaking Jabeur in the second game en route to opening an early 3-0 lead, Osaka had her first set point on the Tunisian’s serve in the eighth game – but didn’t convert.
However, not closing out the first set in the eighth game didn’t have any negative impact on Osaka since the former world No. 1 routinely served out for the opener in the ninth game after converting her second set point.
At the start of the second set, Jabeur was able to hold to her opening service game. And that was all from Jabeur as Osaka went on to claim three breaks in a row and win six consecutive games on her way to getting the job done dominantly in two sets.
Now, Osaka will certainly enter the Mertens match heavily confident and looking to beat the Belgian for the fifth time in their seventh meeting.
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