After 26 aces mixed, Osaka holds off Danilovic in Dangerous Homburg first spherical

In a battle of serving excellence on the Dangerous Homburg Open powered by Solarwatt on Monday, former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka got here out on high.

Dangerous Homburg: Attracts | Scores | Order of Play | 411

Osaka of Japan edged previous Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic 7-6(6), 7-6(4) in a gripping first-round showdown on the WTA 500 grass-court occasion. Presently ranked 57th within the PIF WTA Rankings, Osaka took 2 hours and 5 minutes to greatest World No. 37 Danilovic.

This yr’s chief in share of first-serve factors gained, Osaka had 16 aces, though Danilovic was not too far behind with 10 aces of her personal.

“It’s my first grass-court win of the yr, so I’m actually enthusiastic about that,” Osaka stated on courtroom, after the match.

“I believe I’ve potential [on grass], however everybody else can also be actually good,” the main-draw wild card continued. “I can by no means take it with no consideration, the wins. Simply tremendous excited that I gained as we speak.”

The victory halts Osaka’s three-match dropping streak. After a Spherical-of-16 loss to Peyton Stearns at Rome, Osaka fell to Prime 20 gamers in her subsequent two matches: Paula Badosa within the Roland Garros first spherical and Liudmila Samsonova final week in Berlin.

With a win underneath her belt, Osaka now advances to a second-round assembly with No. 5 seed Emma Navarro of the US. Navarro defeated Osaka of their solely earlier assembly, which was additionally on grass — a 6-4, 6-1 win for the American at Wimbledon final yr.

Stellar serving: Neither participant was damaged in Monday’s match — Osaka erased the 4 break factors she confronted, whereas Danilovic fended off six. 

The straight-sets win got here right down to the narrowest of margins in each tiebreaks. Osaka got here again from 4-2 down within the first-set breaker, utilizing her backhand to pressure an error on her second set level and seize the one-set lead after 70 minutes.

Danilovic saved combating — she began the second set with three consecutive aces. Once more, the set got here right down to the tiebreak, the place Osaka brilliantly challenged a referred to as ace by Danilovic. The assessment confirmed the ball simply out, Danilovic promptly double faulted, and Osaka took a 3-1 lead.

A sterling smash gave Osaka a 6-4 benefit and double match level. 4-time Grand Slam champion Osaka fired a forehand winner on the following level, giving her a hard-fought win over a strong opponent.

Azarenka advances, faces Swiatek subsequent: One other former World No. 1, Victoria Azarenka, additionally gained her Dangerous Homburg first-round match on Monday. Two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka moved previous wild card Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-2.

Azarenka needed to qualify for this week’s major draw and her rating is right down to World No. 105. However she by no means confronted a  break level as she eased by her 2025 grass-court main-draw debut.

Azarenka will now face former World No. 1 Iga Swiatek within the second spherical. Swiatek leads their head-to-head 4-1 total and has gained their final three conferences in straight units.

Vekic upends defending champion Shnaider: Donna Vekic misplaced to Diana Shnaider in final yr’s Dangerous Homburg ultimate, however she reversed that end result on Monday.

Vekic topped No. 6 seed Shnaider 6-3, 6-3 within the first match of the day at Dangerous Homburg. Vekic was one other victor who had a robust day on serve — she saved all 4 break factors she confronted within the match.

Vekic meets Linda Noskova within the subsequent spherical. Of their solely earlier match, Noskova beat Vekic 6-2, 6-4 on the exhausting courts of Doha this yr.