Naomi Osaka will face Paula Badosa in the second round of the Italian Open, having beaten home favourite Sara Errani 6-2 6-3 in her opening match in Rome. (More Tennis News)
Back-to-back breaks in games four and six had Osaka in total control of the opening set, with the four-time grand slam champion not giving Errani a moment of peace on her own serve
Naomi Osaka will face Paula Badosa in the second round of the Italian Open, having beaten home favourite Sara Errani 6-2 6-3 in her opening match in Rome. (More Tennis News)
Osaka – who took a wildcard and won the first ATP 125 event of her career in Saint-Malo last week – needed 81 minutes to progress from Wednesday's opener at Campo Centrale.
Back-to-back breaks in games four and six had Osaka in total control of the opening set, with the four-time grand slam champion not giving Errani a moment of peace on her own serve.
And though Osaka squandered one of those breaks, she immediately hit back to win an opening set in which she converted three of four break points and only faced one.
The second set was initially a different story as Errani claimed first blood with a hard-earned break in game three, but any hope that offered the home fans was extinguished when Osaka – having applied plenty of pressure in game four – broke in games six and eight.
Osaka will now face Badosa for the very first time at WTA level on Friday, with a place in the round of 32 at stake.
Data debrief: Six of the best for Osaka
Osaka's victory was her sixth in a row on clay, following her triumph at Saint-Malo on Sunday.
By beating Kaja Juvan in straight sets in the final of that event, Osaka captured her first title in four years - since the 2021 Australian Open - and clinched a return to the top 50 of the WTA rankings.