Naomi Osaka made a winning return to the BNP Paribas Open, rallying to beat Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a first-round meeting of former major champions. (More Tennis News)
Trailing 2-0 in the third set, Osaka fought off three break points to hold and begin a run of six straight games to close out the match in just under two hours. She broke Stephens three times in the set, including at love 🐻in the sixth game.
“That was a really good🌠 test for me,” Osaka said.
Cold winds 💎blowing from 20 to 30 mph sent debris swirling around the court.
“I felt like I was fighting for my life. I was fighting aga💫inst her, I was fighting against the wind. It w൲as crazy,” Osaka said.
"🐻I'm really proud w♔ith how I handled it."
Osaka, the 2018 winner at Indian Wells, is back in the desert for the first time since 2019. The Japanese star hasn't played a𝄹 tournament since January when she lost in t🐎he round of 32 at the Australian Open. Only having played a handful of events last year, her ranking has dropped to 78th in the world.
“I keep taking these long breaks,” she said.
“I do need to play a lot more matches and I do need to give myself the opportun🥂ity to get more into the swing of things.”
Osaka has said she has faced bouts of depression since winning the U.S. Open in 2018. The four-time major champion withdrew from the Fre🥂nch Open last year to preserve her mental health.
Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open winner, lost for the first time in ✱three career meetings with Osaka. The American's ranking has dropped to 38th, although she was coming off a win in the tournament at Guadalajara, Mexico, last month.
Other first-round winners were Yulia Putintseva of Kazak🅰hstan, Daria Saville and Tereza Martincova.
In men's first-round matches,𝐆 Americans Mackenzie McDonald, Jenson Brooksby, Jack Sock and J.J. Wolf all won.
Christopher Eubanks saved three match points in outlasting Maxime Cressy 5-7, 7-6 (8), 6-4 in an all-American matchup. Nick Kyrgios, who r🎃eceived a wild card, beat Sebastian Baez 6-4, 6-0.
