Naomi Osaka lost in the first round of the 2025 Madrid Open despite fighting in three sets against Lucia Bronzetti.
Osaka has never been an excellent clay-court player. Of course, thanks to her talent, the Japanese player can still win matches on clay, but she is much less comfortable on the surface than on the hard courts, for example.
Still, speaking to Tennis Majors ahead of her first match, Osaka said that she believes she could play well on the red dirt, especially after playing a great match against Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros last year.
"I think I’m playing well on clay and obviously I have a really good memory from Roland-Garros last year. I think it’s going to be helpful for me coming into this clay season just knowing that I could play like that on clay, and it is helpful in tough moments, yes, but I feel like I just want to keep playing matches like that and hopefully just make that a standard."
The former WTA World No. 1 player had a chance to prove her qualities in the first-round match at the WTA 1000 event in Madrid against Lucia Bronzetti, who can be a really dangerous player.
But it was Osaka who started the match better. She had two break points in the fourth game, but couldn't use her chances. That cost the Japanese player, as a few games later, Bronzetti used her only break chance to lead 4-3 in the first set. That one break was all that the Italian needed to win the opening set of the match 6-4.
But Osaka was able to fight back in the second set. She served quite well, even hitting two aces, and she was also more clinical when it mattered.
The four-time Grand Slam champion faced five break points in the second set, but this time, she was the more effective player. Osaka saved four of those break points, and she used three of the five chances that she had to break her opponent. All of that was enough for her to win the second set 6-2.
With the score tied, the two-time Australian Open champion was once again the favorite to win the match, but she didn't start well. Osaka was broken already in the first game of the third set, and down 1-3, she faced another break point.
But the former World No. 1 started a streak of six consecutive points won, thanks to which she created three break points in the following game. Although those three chances to break were not enough for Osaka, she used her fifth break point in that game to level the score at 3-3.
And even though it looked like she was back in it, the Japanese player couldn't play well in the important moments again. Eventually, Osaka lost the match 4-6, 6-2, 4-6, exiting the Madrid Open already in the first round.
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