Osaka triumphs over Jabeur to advance in WTA Toronto opener
Former world number one, Naomi Osaka, marked a strong return to the WTA circuit by advancing to the second round of the WTA Toronto Masters on Wednesday. The four-time Grand Slam champion secured a decisive 6-3, 6-1 victory against Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, the ninth seed, in just 72 minutes.
This victory is Osaka’s fifth win of the year over a top-20 ranked player and comes as she continues her comeback after maternity leave. Known for her dominance on hardcourts, Osaka has previously won all seven of her WTA titles on this surface, including two US Opens (2018, 2020) and two Australian Opens (2019, 2021).
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Reflecting on her performance, Osaka said, “Everyone knows I really love hard courts. I wasn’t thinking too much. It was very instinctual. When I play the best players, like Ons, I tend to play better.” She added, “I’m feeling quite confident in myself as a person and as a player, and I think that showed a little.”
Osaka’s win marked her first triumph in Canada since she reached the quarter-finals in 2019. In her victory over Jabeur, she recorded 14 winners against 13 unforced errors, while Jabeur struggled with 27 unforced errors in her first match since Wimbledon.
Osaka will next face Belgium’s Elise Mertens in the second round, with the two players having split their two previous meetings this year. Mertens won their encounter at Indian Wells, while Osaka prevailed on grass at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.
In other matches, Washington Open winner Paula Badosa of Spain defeated Denmark’s Clara Tauson 6-1, 6-4, extending her win streak to five matches. Badosa will face fourth seed Jelena Ostapenko in the next round. Olympic doubles silver medalist Diana Shnaider of Russia, the 14th seed, overcame a tough challenge from Britain’s Harriet Dart to win 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2).
China’s Yuan Yue also advanced, defeating Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 6-3, 6-3, setting up a second-round match against second seed Aryna Sabalenka, the reigning Australian Open champion.
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