Osaka wins in Rome after three-year absence

Rome: Naomi Osaka marked her return to the Rome Open for the first time since 2021 with a straight sets victory over Clara Burel in the first round on...

Rome: Naomi Osaka marked her return to the Rome Open for the first time since 2021 with a straight sets victory over Clara Burel in the first round on Wednesday.

Former world number one Osaka came through against her 45th-ranked French opponent 7-6 (7/2), 6-1.

It was the 26-year-old's first win against a top-50 opponent on clay since beating Victoria Azarenka at the French Open in 2019.

Osaka, now ranked at 173 in the world after taking a break from the tour to have her first child, will face 19th seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine for a place in the third round.

Kostyuk, the runner-up on clay in Stuttgart last month, lost to Osaka in their only other previous meeting, in three sets at the 2020 US Open.