World No. 1 Naomi Osaka yesterday defeated Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei 6-4, 6-3 in her first clay-court match of the season at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
US and Australian Open champion Osaka, who lost to Hsieh in Miami last month, secured a place in the quarter-finals against Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
The 21-year-old Japanese broke Hsieh three times to beat her for the second time in three attempts this year, having also defeated her on the way to lifting the title in Melbourne.
Hsieh on Wednesday came from behind to defeat China’s Wang Qiang in three sets 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to set up a second-round clash with Osaka, whom she beat in Miami last month.
Each of Osaka’s three previous meetings with world No. 24 Hsieh had gone to three sets.
Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, who defeated Osaka at Indian Wells last month, also advanced to the second round after overcoming Luxembourg’s Mandy Minella in straight sets.
There were also straight-sets victories for Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka over Russia’s Vera Zvonareva and for Croatian Donna Vekic against Italian Giulia Gatto-Monticone.
Former world No. 1 Azarenka admitted that jet lag had been a major problem, as she had flown in from Australia where she had played in a Fed Cup tie in Brisbane over the weekend.
“I have no idea right now of the time or what’s happening,” Azarenka said. “The flight from Australia was so long I felt like it was never going to end.”
There was disappointment for the home crowd when Germany’s Julia Goerges was forced to retire hurt 4-0 down in the third set against Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova after complaining of a problem with her hand.
Pavlyuchenkova is to face eighth seed Anett Kontaveit, after the Estonian eased past France’s Caroline Garcia in straight sets.
Third seed Petra Kvitova had already advanced to the last eight after working hard in the second set to complete a 6-1, 6-4 win over Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen.
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