Miami | Osaka leads the charge into R2 where seeds are deployed

With the completion of the 1st-round in the top half of the draw at the Miami Open on Wednesday, the 32 seeded players who received a bye now know who they will meet to open their campaigns at the WTA 1000 event in the Sunshine State.

I remember watching [Svitolina] playing Wimbledon while I was pregnant, and I remember thinking that I want to be there too one day. She’s always just been a really great player, so it’s not surprising to me she’s back in the Top 20. It’s more like that’s where she belongs. It’s going to be a really incredible honour to play against her. Naomi Osaka

Former World No 1 Naomi Osaka eased past Elisabetta Cocciaretto to take on Elina Svitolina, the 15th seed, while Camilla Giorgi saw off Magdalena Frech to meet top seed Iga Swiatek, and Nadia Podoroska dispatched Ashlyn Krueger to line up No 3 seed Coco Gauff.

Osaka, recently returned from maternity leave, confidently dispatched Cocciaretto, 6-3 6-4, an Italian ranked 51, who was potentially a tricky first test for the Japanese, having won the WTA 125 event in Charleston last week.

The step up in class, though, proved too much for the Italian, as Osaka showed flashes of the form that took her to 4 Grand Slam titles, and she broke Cocciaretto at her first chance, while never allowing her opponent a chance to break in the opening set.

Osaka only needed the one break in the second to get the job done, closing out the contest with an ace on her 2nd match point.

In her 7th Miami Open appearance, Osaka needed just 78 minutes to advance, and has still never lost her opening match at the tournament.

“Honestly, this is probably the most free that I was able to hit my balls, like, the closest to the feeling I want to capture going forward,” Osaka said after her win. “I would say this is probably my best match in terms of shot-making. I felt like the balls I wanted to hit were there. I’m pretty happy with this one.”

The Japanese next faces Svitolina, the Ukrainian who is less than year into her own return from maternity leave, and is already back inside the Top 20.

Osaka and Svitolina have split their 6 previous meetings, the most recent meeting coming in the 2019 Australian Open quarter-finals, which Osaka won in straight sets en route to the title.

“I remember watching [Svitolina] playing Wimbledon while I was pregnant, and I remember thinking that I want to be there too one day,” Osaka said. “She’s always just been a really great player, so it’s not surprising to me she’s back in the Top 20. It’s more like that’s where she belongs.

“It’s going to be a really incredible honour to play against her.”

Camila Giorgi beat Magdalena Frech in straight sets, and will meet World No 1 Iga Swiatek next in Miami

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Meanwhile, Italy’s Camila Giorgi, who is ranked No 107, blasted her way past Magdalena Frech from Poland, 6-4 6-2, to set up a 2nd-round showdown against World No 1 Iga Swiatek on Friday.

Giorgi is 3-5 in matches won this year, but saw off Britain’s Katie Boulter at Indian Wells in the 1st-round before losing to the young Czech Linda Noskova.

She is 1-1 against Swiatek, although she lost her last encounter with the Pole, 6-2 6-4, at the 2021 Australian Open.

Swiatek, of course, is seeking to achieve the Sunshine Double for the second time, having already won the title at Indian Wells on Sunday.

3rd-seed Coco Gauff will open against Argentine qualifier Nadia Podoroska, who was a 6-4 6-2 winner over American Ashlyn Krueger on Day 2.

Sloane Stephens celebrated her 31st birthday with an impressive win over Angelique Kerber

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Earlier on the Hard Rock Stadium court, another American, Sloane Stephens, celebrated her 31st birthday by beating Germany’s Angelique Kerber, 6-2 6-3, in a one-sided battle between two former Grand Slam champions.

Stephens, who is a Florida native and the 2018 Miami champion, converted 4 of her 8 break point chances against Kerber, and dropped her serve just once in the 70-minute match.

“I came out with a game plan, I was very clear with that, and I didn’t really deviate from that,” Stephens said during her on-court interview. “I just tried to play the best I could, and give the best effort I could, and I’m happy to be through with the win.”

Ranked 41, Stephens was barely tested in the first set, which she wrapped up with her second break of the match to love.

Kerber, a 3-times Grand Slam winner who returned to the tour in January after her 18-month maternity break, was looking to build on her 4th-round showing at Indian Wells, but while she looked more comfortable early in the second set, she was ultimately undone by a rash of errors.

Stephens took full advantage, and consolidated a break for a 5-2 lead, before going on to serve out the match with a routine hold that she punctuated with a forehand into the open court.

Up next for the 2017 US Open champion, who fell in the 3rd-round at Indian Wells last week, is Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, the No 19 seed.

Shelby Rogers recorded her first win in 11 months by outlasting Czech teenager Linda Fruhirtova in 3 sets

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In an all-American first round match-up, qualifier Katie Volynets upset her compatriot and former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, 6-2 4-6 6-3, while Croatia’s Donna Vekic was a 6-4 2-6 6-2 winner against the big-hitting Czech Karolina Pliskova.

Another American, Shelby Rogers, recorded her first win in 11 months when the former World No 30 outlasted Czech teenager Linda Fruhirtova, 4-6 6-4 6-2, to meet 2021 Roland Garros finalist and No 21 seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from Russia in round 2.

Sidelined for the second half of 2023 after Wimbledon, Rogers underwent her second knee surgery in the summer, and lost to Britain’s Emma Raducanu in the 1st-round of the Australian Open on her return to the tour.

Now ranked 325, Rogers rallied from a set behind to beat Fruhvirtova, who 2 years ago, at 16, was the youngest player to reach the 4th-round in Miami since 2004.

“I’m not getting any younger, so every match I play now is really special,” the 31-year old said later. “The rehab is hard, coming back, and all these players are so good — and they’re, like, half my age!

“I just love this sport so much, and all I wanted to do today was come out and enjoy competing.”

Rogers married John Slavik in December, who ‘got the day off work’ to cheer her on to her 7th career main-draw victory in Miami.

“It’s so crazy to say that, oh my gosh, I’m still struggling to call him my husband,” Rogers told Tennis Channel afterwards. “I’ve got to get used to that! It’s so fun. We’ve learned a lot. Married life is so fun.

“It was so special to have him in my corner today. He’s always there but, in person, it means a lot.”

Elina Avanesyan held off wild-card Erika Andreeva to advance to a 2nd-round match against Ons Jabeur, the No 6 seed

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Meanwhile, Zhu Lin from China opened her Miami Open campaign with a 6-2 6-4 win over Russia’s Marie Bouzkova, setting up a tussle with 5th-seeded American Jessica Pegula,

In an all-Russian encounter, Elina Avanesyan held off wild-card Erika Andreeva, 6-0 3-6 6-1, to advance to a 2nd-round match against Ons Jabeur, the No 6 seed from Tunisia.

Other Day 2 results saw qualifier Storm Hunter advance when her opponent, Martina Trevisan from Italy retired with the score standing at 6-3, 3-0 in favour of the Aussie; while another qualifier, Emiliana Arango took out Germany’s Tatjana Maria, 6-2 6-3; Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus dispatched Sara Sorribes Tormo from Spain, 6-0 6-3; Bulgarian Viktorija Tomova defeated lucky loser Tamara Korpatch from Germany, 6-2 6-4; American qualifier Claire Liu beat Croatia’s Petra Martic, 6-4 6-1; and Danielle Collins fought her was past fellow American Bernarda Pera, a lucky loser, 3-6 6-1 6-1.