Naomi Osaka continued her strong level on the grass courts, by beating native player Suzan Lamens comfortably in two sets at the 2024 Libema Open.
The former world no. 1 doesn't have much experience on grass because it's a surface she never played a lot on in the past. She wants to change that this year, as she has a completely new mindset after coming back from motherhood, and so far, she's certainly backed it up on the courts.
She played on clay and did really well. Now, Osaka is playing on grass and doing pretty well, which is not hugely surprising, despite her lack of experience on the green surface. Her level is pretty solid at the moment, as we saw in the battle against Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros.
Her style also works well on grass, as she has a powerful serve and hits the ball really well, which is what a tennis player needs on this surface. Her movement could be better, but that's more about spending time on the grass playing than anything else.
Her second-round match in Den Bosch was quite similar to the one she played in the previous round. Her previous opponent, Elise Mertens, is a better player than Suzan Lamens, but both of them lost quite convincingly.
Lamens didn't really put up a great fight, even though the first few games of the match were quite competitive. When Osaka finally broke at 3-2, things changed dramatically.
She broke again to close out the opening set, winning it 6-2, and she continued dominating the second set. She didn't hit her first serve at a great percentage but absolutely dominated if the ball landed in the court.
On return, Osaka found solid success on both the second and the first serve but did better on the second. Overall, it was just a solid display from the Japanese player, who won the match 6-2 6-2, and will play in a grass-court quarter-final this week.
After the match, she didn't want to rate her performance, but humbly admitted that she would want to win a trophy at the Libema Open.
"I don’t want to rate it. I just say I felt more comfortable today than the day before. Hopefully, with every match and practice, I’ll continue to get better. Hopefully to win a tournament. That’s a long-term project. I just hope I continue to play well and be healthy."
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