Osaka holds off Stephens in Indian Wells first round
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Naomi Osaka outlasted Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 at the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters.
INDIAN WELLS (AFP) - Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka outlasted Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a tough first-round encounter at the Indian Wells WTA and ATP Masters on Thursday.
Japan s Osaka, playing her first tournament since a third-round exit at the Australian Open saw her plummet out of the top 80 in the world rankings, was a break down at 0-2 in the third set but won the last six games to secure the victory over former US Open champion Stephens.
The marquee first-round match was an outlier at Indian Wells, where all 32 seeded players in both the men s and women s draws enjoy first-round byes.
But Osaka and Stephens weren t among them, Osaka starting the week ranked 78th in the world and Stephens 38th in the wake of her first title since 2018 at Guadalajara last month.
Osaka advanced to a second-round meeting with 21st seed Veronika Kudermetova.
