Naomi Osaka struggled for a good portion of her Miami Open first-round match and came close to bowing out of the WTA 1000 tournament very early but ultimately managed to recover from a set and a break down to beat qualifier Yulia Starodubtseva 3-6 6-4 6-3.
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The 108th-ranked Ukrainian, who was only 1-8 before winning two qualifying matches in Miami, got off to a stunning 5-0 lead against the former world No. 1 before serving out for the first set in her second attempt in the ninth game.
After bagging the opener, Starodubtseva also saved three consecutive break points in the second set before opening a 4-2 lead. Down by a set and a break, Osaka finally showed some signs of life by winning the next four games and sending the match into a decider.
In the third set, the four-time Grand Slam champion took the Ukrainian's serve in the fourth game and saved a break point when serving for the match in the ninth game to complete her comeback win in nearly two and a half hours of play.
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Osaka: I wasn't playing well but I wanted to at least make it a battle
"I knew that I wasn't playing too well, but I thought, let me try to stay on the court as long as possible, because I consider Miami my home. [In Indian Wells] I was just over-hitting a lot, so I tried to use my legs. I was going to run into every corner if I had to, and we were going to have to play for three hours if she was going to beat me," the Japanese said in her on-court interview.
In her next match, Osaka - who finished as runner-up in Miami three years ago - plays against No. 24 seed Liudmila Samsonova. In the past, they played twice and split wins.
