Naomi Osaka makes Miami quarterfinals, says she’s more grateful

Associated PressMar 28, 2022, 8:04 PM EDT

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Making the quarterfinals at a tournament used to be no big deal for Naomi Osaka. It was only a shock if it didn’t happen.

Things are a bit different now.

The former world No. 1 has made it through to the quarterfinals at the Miami Open – just the second time she has managed to advance that deep in any tournament over the last year. Osaka beat Alison Riske of the U.S. 6-3, 6-4, moving into a round-of-eight matchup with Danielle Collins.

Osaka’s only other quarterfinal appearance in the last year was at an Australian Open warmup tournament in Melbourne in January. Before that, her most recent quarterfinals trip was at Miami a year ago.

“It’s really funny for me, because last year here I made it to the quarters, too,” Osaka said. “It was after I won Australia and I wasn’t that grateful. I kind of expected to win.”

Wins these days just mean more, after ongoing struggles and time away from the game to deal with her mental health. Her ranking has dipped to No. 77 – it could get somewhere around No. 30 if she wins the Miami title – and she hasn’t won a tournament since that Australian Open last year.

But her stay in Miami so far has been nothing but happiness, with three easy wins – all in straight sets – and the added benefit of a walkover victory in there as well.

“This is really one of the funnest times of my life,” Osaka said. “I’m really grateful.”

Collins, the No. 9 seed from the U.S., needed just over an hour Monday to win her fourth-round match against No. 8 Ons Jabeur, 6-2, 6-4.

The win likely ensured that Collins is locked into the top 10 when the world rankings reset early next week. She could be as high as No. 8 depending on how far others go in the tournament.

Collins is 0-2 in previous matches against Osaka, both straight-set losses on hard courts, one in 2018, the other in 2019.

“When Naomi is at the top of her game, she’s very, very hard to beat,” Collins said.

Daria Saville also got into the quarterfinals, surviving a three-hour match to beat Lucia Bronzetti 5-7, 6-4, 7-5. Saville has climbed a staggering 500 spots in the rankings in about a month and a half; she was 627th in the world in mid-February and could make the top 100 if she wins her next match against No. 22 Belinda Bencic – a 6-2, 6-3 winner Monday over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

No. 2 Iga Swiatek, who is already assured of moving to No. 1 next week, also rolled into the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No. 14 Coco Gauff.

“I was in a good mood today and (in a) good zone,” Swiatek said. “I was really focused. Sometimes I have these kind of moments where I don’t even know what the score is. That’s nice, because you’re just focusing on tennis and tactics and technique.”

Swiatek will next play No. 28 Petra Kvitova, a 7-6 (5), 6-4 winner over No. 21 Veronika Kudermetova.

No. 16 Jessica Pegula also advanced; unseeded Anhelina Kalinina retired after Pegula won the first set 6-0. Pegula will play No. 5 Paula Badosa, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Linda Fruhvirtova in the quarterfinals.

In the men’s third round, Daniil Medvedev is now two wins away from reclaiming the No. 1 ranking.

The top seed in Miami beat Spain’s Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-4. A trip to the semifinals is all it would take for Medvedev to leapfrog Novak Djokovic – who can’t travel to the U.S. because he isn’t vaccinated against COVID-19 – and return to No. 1.

Next up for Medvedev: American Jenson Brooksby, who rallied from 0-4 down in the third set to upset No. 15 Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

“I competed until the end,” Brooksby said.

No. 11 Taylor Fritz – seeking the so-called “Sunshine Double,” meaning tournament wins at both Indian Wells and Miami – topped good friend Tommy Paul 7-6 (2), 6-4 in an all-American third-round matchup.

No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat No. 25 Alex de Minaur, 6-4, 6-3. Defending champion Hubert Hurkacz also advanced, the No. 8 seed fighting past No. 29 Aslan Karatsev 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. No. 14 Carlos Alcaraz got by No. 21 Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4.

Jabeur bounces back at French Open, Ruud and Andreeva advance

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:32 AM EDT

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PARIS — Ons Jabeur got a do-over on Court Philippe Chatrier at the French Open and won this time.

A year after her first-round exit, the No. 7 seed Jabeur beat Lucia Bronzetti 6-4, 6-1 to help erase some bad memories and answer questions about a recent calf injury.

The Tunisian, a crowd favorite in Paris, smiled and expressed relief in not repeating last year’s mistake, when she lost to Magda Linette of Poland.

“I’m very happy to win my first match on Philippe Chatrier – because I’ve never won here,” Jabeur said on court about the clay-court tournament’s main stadium.

Now she can focus on trying to win her first major. She was runner-up at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year.

The 28-year-old Jabeur has also battled injuries this season. She had knee surgery after the Australian Open, and was then sidelined with a calf injury. She had stopped playing against top-ranked Iga Swiatek at the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, in late April and then pulled out of the Madrid Open.

“It was a very difficult period for me after Stuttgart,” said Jabeur, adding that she’s beginning to find her rhythm.

Jabeur struck 27 winner’s to Bronzetti’s seven, though with 24 unforced errors she’ll have room to improve.

Mirra Andreeva had a memorable Grand Slam debut by dominating Alison Riske-Amritraj 6-2, 6-1. Andreeva’s older sister – 18-year-old Erika – was facing Emma Navarro later in the day.

Later, Swiatek gets her French Open title defense started against Cristina Bucsa, who is ranked 70th.

On the men’s side, No. 4 seed Casper Ruud beat qualifier Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, to remind the higher-profile tournament favorites that he was runner-up to Rafael Nadal last year at Roland Garros.

New mom Elina Svitolina beats seeded player at French Open in 1st Slam match in 16 months

Associated PressMay 30, 2023, 11:27 AM EDT

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PARIS — So much has changed for Elina Svitolina, who played – and won – her first Grand Slam match in nearly 1 1/2 years at the French Open, eliminating 2022 semifinalist Martina Trevisan 6-2, 6-2.

For one thing, she’s now a mother: Svitolina and her husband, French tennis player Gael Monfils, welcomed their daughter, Skaï, in October. For another, Svitolina is now ranked 192nd, nowhere near the career high of No. 3 she first reached in 2017, back in the days when she was regularly reaching the second weeks of major tournaments – including a pair of semifinal runs. Away from the courts, her home country of Ukraine was invaded by Russia last year, and the war continues.

“Everything,” she said, “is kind of old and new for me right now.”

In sum, Svitolina is juggling a lot nowadays.

She hadn’t played at a Slam since a third-round exit at the Australian Open in January 2022. She hadn’t played a match anywhere since March 2022, when she was still ranked 20th.

“It was always in my head … to come back, but I didn’t put any pressure on myself, because obviously with the war going on, with the pregnancy, you never know how complicated it will go,” the 28-year-old Svitolina said.

The work to return to the tour after giving birth began this January; her initial WTA match came at Charleston, South Carolina, in April. She won her first title since returning to action, at a smaller event on red clay in Strasbourg, France.

At Roland Garros, she used her big forehand to compile a 20-12 edge in winners and never faced a single break point against Trevisan, who was seeded 26th.

Trevisan cried as she spoke after the match about a problem with her right foot that made it difficult to even walk and prompted her to stop playing during her quarterfinal last week at the Morocco Open, where she was the defending champion.

Still, she gave Svitolina credit.

“Even though she’s just coming back from having a daughter, she’s a champion,” Trevisan said. “And she’s coming off a title, so she’s confident.”

Svitolina talked about feeling “awful when you’re pregnant, especially the last months,” but getting into a position now where she thinks she’s stronger than before – in more ways than one.

“I feel that I can handle the work that I do off the court and, match by match, I’m getting better. Also mentally, because mental (state) can influence your physicality, as well,” she said. “I tried to find the balance, and I feel like I’m seeing (things) a little bit again differently as well after the break. Everything is getting there. The puzzles are getting slowly into place.”