Composed Osaka eases through in Miami

Naomi Osaka moved to extinguish the painful memories from Indian Wells as she eased into the second round of the Miami Open.

The three-time grand slam champion, who was left in tears as she struggled to deal with a heckler during her second-round defeat to Veronika Kudermetova at Indian Wells, produced a composed display in South Florida to see off Astra Sharma 6-3 6-4.

Needing an hour and 20 minutes to defeat her Australian opponent, Osaka secured her 50th WTA 1000 win, one that sets up a battle of two former world number ones.

Osaka will next face Angelique Kerber, having kept her cool against Sharma despite converting just two of 11 break point opportunities and squandering three match points.

“I didn’t want to let anything bother me, no matter what happened,” Osaka said.

“The last match I played was not the greatest memory for me. I wanted to prove that I could come back out here and compete, and no matter if I won or lost, to just know that I had the best attitude I could.”

Kerber promises to prove a much sterner test for Osaka, who has lost her last four matches against the German, having won their first encounter at the 2017 US Open.

Osaka’s Japanese compatriot Misaki Doi crashed out in a straight-sets defeat to Vera Zvonareva, while promising teenager Clara Tauson retired in the third set of her match with Zhang Shuai.

Madison Brengle was among those to progress on Wednesday, continuing the theme of early American success.