Former Miami Open finalist Naomi Osaka avoided an early exit in the first round against Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva. Osaka rallied after losing the first set and being down a break in the second to win with scores of 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Osaka, who was the runner-up in Miami in 2022 to Iga Swiatek, hadn’t won a match since reaching the third round of the Australian Open in January. In that Australian Open match, she retired due to an abdominal injury while trailing Belinda Bencic. More recently, she suffered a defeat to Camila Osorio in the first round of Indian Wells, which she described as the ‘worst of her career.’
This period has been frustrating for Osaka. She reached the final in Auckland at the start of the year, showing strong form before the abdominal injury disrupted her momentum. This setback contributed to her nervousness at the Sunshine Double tournaments this year.
‘I really want to compete with the top players, and I see everyone performing so well, and I want to do the same,’ she told reporters. ‘But I need to remind myself that progress takes time.’
However, the former World No. 1 learned from her loss to Osorio as she faced Starodubtseva for the first time.
‘I knew my level wasn’t at its best, but I decided to stay in the match as long as possible, because I consider Miami my home tournament,’ Osaka said in her post-match interview on court. ‘[In Indian Wells] I was trying to overpower the ball too much, so I focused on using my legs more. I was prepared to run to every corner and play for three hours if that’s what it took to win.’
Starodubtseva has had a challenging season, winning only one of her nine matches in 2025 prior to Miami, and none in a main draw. However, the 25-year-old Old Dominion University graduate found her rhythm in Miami qualifying, with victories over Varvara Lepchenko and Tatjana Maria, and pushed Osaka to her limit. Starodubtseva quickly took a 5-0 lead and later came close to victory at 6-3, 4-2.
In the end, Osaka, a former World No. 1, didn’t need the full three hours, but she demonstrated significant resilience, improving her record in three-set matches this year to 4-0. Her next opponent is No. 24 seed Liudmila Samsonova, whom she has played twice before. Samsonova defeated Osaka in Indian Wells, but Osaka won their match in Madrid.
Key Moment: For the first set and a half, Starodubtseva, ranked No. 108, executed a nearly flawless game plan. She absorbed Osaka’s powerful shots and returned them with excellent depth, effectively redirecting the ball for winners and creating space with sliced backhands. Despite some nerves while trying to close out the first set, Starodubtseva saved three break points early in the second set and hit a precise forehand winner to break for a 4-2 lead.
Two games later, she had two opportunities to extend her lead to 5-3. However, she made errors on both points and hit a forehand long, allowing Osaka to break back. Osaka seized this opportunity and quickly served a love game to take a 5-4 lead. Starodubtseva couldn’t recover, netting a volley and sending a backhand long to lose the set in the following game.
Osaka’s first serve percentage was only 47% in the first set, and she won just 57% of those points, which is unusually low for her. However, her serve improved throughout the match, becoming almost perfect in the final set. In the decider, she had a 58% first serve percentage and lost only three points on her first serve. She faced only two break points in the fifth game of the final set and saved both.
Osaka’s initial struggles in the first set began with consecutive double faults, leading to a break in the second game. Despite this, she managed to hit 10 aces in the match and secured the victory with two service winners in a row at the end.
