Naomi Osaka was close to registering one of her biggest wins of the year and making her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal but then failed to seal the deal against Jasmine Paolini as the No. 6 seed came back from a set down to beat the Japanese 3-6 6-4 6-4 and make her first quarterfinal at the event.
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Right out of the gate, the 2022 Miami runner-up started putting major pressure on the Italian's serve as she created 10 break points and broke her rival three times to take the first set.
But then, the momentum changed in moments after Paolini earned a break in the first game of the second set and then held on to her serve for the rest of the set. It should be noted that the Italian served much better in the second set as she only faced two break points and didn't lose her serve once.
The third set was a similar story as the No. 6 seed claimed the lone break in the fifth game and that was enough for her to complete her comeback win and set up a Miami quarterfinal meeting against either Coco Gauff or Magda Linette.
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Why this loss is so disappointing for Osaka?
At the start of Miami, the four-time Grand Slam champion said her big goal was to play against "the big dogs." Today, she had a great chance to beat one big name - Paolini - who made two Grand Slam finals last year. Had she beaten the 2024 Wimbledon finalist, the former world No. 1 would have probably clashed against another big name - Gauff - in the next round.
I just want to play with the big dogs so bad. I just see everyone playing so well, and I want to do the same. But I have to remember it's a process," Osaka said a couple of days ago.
