Osaka, Raducanu, Wozniacki advance to Indian Wells second round

At the Indian Wells tournament on Thursday, Grand Slam winners Naomi Osaka, Emma Raducanu, and Caroline Wozniacki progressed to the second round, while Venus Williams, a former top-ranked player, was on the verge of victory but ended up losing to Nao Hibino of Japan after dropping the last 10 games.

Osaka, a winner of four Grand Slams, making her comeback to the circuit after a break for maternity, initially stumbled, losing a point due to a missed overhead in challenging windy conditions. However, she quickly regained her form, overpowering Sara Errani with her strong play and securing the match 6-3, 6-1 by winning most of the games thereafter.

Osaka described the initial set as challenging and deliberated on her strategy before finding her rhythm. As a wildcard entry and the 2018 champion of this event, Osaka’s next opponent is Russia’s 14th seed Liudmila Samsonova.

Earlier, Raducanu, the U.S. Open winner, overcame Rebeka Masarova of Spain 6-2, 6-3, preparing for a match against Ukraine’s 30th seed Dayana Yastremska. Despite her service struggles, including eight double faults, Raducanu secured her victory on her fourth match point when Masarova’s return went out.

This tournament marks Raducanu’s fifth since her return in January after an eight-month hiatus due to wrist and ankle surgeries.

Wozniacki, aged 33, clinched her first win at Indian Wells since 2019 by defeating Zhu Lin 7-6(6), 6-1 in a match delayed by rain. The 2011 Indian Wells champion, who came back to professional tennis last year after retiring in 2020, will next play against 25th seed Donna Vekic of Croatia.

Williams, a victor of seven Grand Slams, seemed set for a win with a lead of 6-2, 3-2 before Hibino staged a comeback to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-0. Williams had been out of action since her early exit at the previous year’s U.S. Open.

In another notable match, Danielle Collins set up a highly anticipated second-round encounter with world number one Iga Swiatek after narrowly defeating Erika Andreeva 7-6(3), 7-6(6). Collins came back from a deficit in both sets and managed to overcome set points against her in the second. Collins, who plans to retire after this season, remains as competitive as ever, describing her mindset as “animal mode” upon entering the competition.