Naomi Osaka stated she has a greater plan for dealing with clay after she suffered a second-round exit on the Madrid Open on Sunday, the Japanese second seed dropping 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to Karolina Muchova.
Osaka, the reigning US and Australian Open champion, has seven profession hard-court titles, however has by no means managed to carry a clay-court trophy.
Playing her first clay-court occasion for the reason that 2019 French Open, Osaka beat compatriot Misaki Doi in the primary spherical, however she got here unstuck towards an opponent making her high 20 debut this week.
“I’ve a reasonably optimistic outlook on it,” said Osaka after the match. “I can control my attitude and how hard I fought and for me, I thought I did that really well.
“Physically I don’t think I got tired. I just made some pretty bad decisions point-wise in really crucial moments.
“So I think I’ll learn from that, and hopefully – I don’t really want to play her on clay anymore – but maybe next time we play, I’ll make better decisions.
“I’m really happy with how I was able to talk with my team after I lost and after I came off the court. I think we really have a plan now, so I think it’s good.”
Osaka is bidding to win a 3rd consecutive main title on the French Open subsequent month however has by no means beforehand made it previous the third spherical in Paris.
“These tournaments are known as warm-up tournaments and naturally all of us come right here to win and do nicely at these tournaments too, however I would favor to peak on the French versus profitable this event after which form of going downhill,” Osaka said.
Muchova beat three top 20 players, including world number one Ashleigh Barty, en route to the Australian Open semi-finals earlier this year and she can now add world number two Osaka to her growing list of scalps.
“I was trying to move her as much as possible,” Muchova stated. “That was the tactic. It sounds straightforward however she’s enjoying actually quick so it’s not that straightforward on the court docket.
“In the second set particularly, she began to be very aggressive. I obtained again to what I did in the primary set in the third set, and once more, tried to maneuver her left, proper, dropshots, however nonetheless in a quick approach.”
Muchova used a single break of serve to claim the opening set before Osaka, a quarter-finalist at Madrid two years ago, fell 3-1 behind in the second but rallied to win the next five games and force a decider.
Muchova regrouped and broke Osaka early in the third set, and then again for a 5-1 lead, before sealing victory in just under two hours.
The Czech will meet Greek 16th seed Maria Sakkari, who brushed aside Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit 6-3, 6-1.
Fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka also made it through to the last 16 with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Daria Kasatkina.
Constituency-Wise Election Results LIVE: West Bengal | Tamil Nadu | Kerala | Assam | Puducherry
LIVE Blogs: West Bengal | Tamil Nadu | Kerala | Assam
