Naomi Osaka completed her double duty at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Open, but it was a loss with Ons Jabeur as they weren't able to overcome Bernarda Pera and Magda Linette.
This matchup didn't end up being the one Jabeur and Osaka expected. They were supposed to play Saisai Zheng and Xinyu Wang initially, but the Chinese players withdrew from the competition, so they faced different opposition.
That certainly didn't help Osaka, who hasn't played doubles for over six years. It's not something she generally does either, but since her coach advised her to play as many matches as possible, the Japanese player signed up for doubles at the WTA 500 event in Abu Dhabi.
It was the second match she played on the same day because she had played her singles match earlier in the day. That was, unfortunately, a loss for her, and this one was too.
Much like the first one, this, too, wasn't spectacularly close because it was obvious that Jabeur and Osaka had never played together before. Pera and Linette certainly have more experience in doubles, and they've played together before many times.
It was quite clear early in the match, but Osaka and Jabeur also struggled with their serve. They only hit their serve 40% of the time and that's simply not good enough, in doubles especially.
Even from the baseline, the Polish-American duo simply seemed more comfortable. The second set was a bit better for the Japanese and Tunisian player in terms of their serve, but they still weren't able to do much really from the baseline, which is why they got overpowered.
The final score was 6-3, 6-3 for Pera and Linette, and that ended Osaka's experience in Abu Dhabi. We'll see where she pops up next and whether it's in the next weeks, but she's leaving Abu Dhabi with only two matches and two losses.
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