Madrid (Spain) – At the beginning of this Wednesday’s round at the WTA 1000 in Madrid, two big names entered the court to make their debut in the competition. Japanese Naomi Osaka did well and won her first victory on clay since 2022, while home tennis player Paula Badosa ended up eliminated with a comeback defeat.
Former world number 1, Osaka defeated Belgian lucky-loser Greet Minnen in straight sets, spending 1h19 to score partials of 6/4 and 6/1. Her last victory on clay was exactly two years ago, when she beat Russian Anastasia Potapova in the first round of Madrid in 2022. Now, the Japanese will challenge Russian Liudmila Samsonova.
Seven weeks ago, the Japanese native overcame Samsonova in straight sets at Indian Wells to claim her first victory over a top-20 seed since her return. Seeded 15th on the Madrid clay court, the 25-year-old Russian will have the opportunity to try for a rematch against Osaka in the second duel between the two on the professional circuit.
Badosa’s ordeal continues
Struggling with physical problems, Badosa was unable to make it past his debut in Madrid. After giving up in Stuttgart, the Spaniard even started in front of her compatriot Jessica Bouzas, but ended up allowing the 21-year-old rival and current 93rd in the world to overcome, who came out on top with a final score of 2/6, 6/3 and 6 /3, after 2h05 of confrontation.
In the second phase, the young Spaniard will face Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, ninth highest ranked for the title, who is advanced in the group and has a positive record against Spanish women, with 12 wins and 10 losses. Interestingly, from 2018 to now, the only Spanish woman who managed to defeat Ostapenko was Badosa, who will not have another opportunity to face the Latvian.
