Osaka Authors Comeback On Stephens At Indian Wells; Gauff, Raducanu Today

In the blockbuster opener of either draw, Naomi Osaka got the better of Sloane Stephens in a 3-set roller coaster Thursday at Indian Wells, defeating her fellow Grand Slam winner 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in just under two hours.

Playing her first match since Australia, the 78th-ranked Osaka got off to a good start with a break, but couldn’t hold the lead. She was able to rally in the second to force a decider.

Stephens, who came off a Guadalajara title last month, took the early break in the third for 2-0 but Osaka ripped off the last six games of the match for her first career win over the American in three tries.

“As tight as I was in the first two games of the final set, I just figured that I learned from every match that I play and I learned a lot from my three-set match against Anisimova in Australia,” Osaka said. “I told myself that I would have opportunities for sure and I just need to capitalize on that. I knew I was hitting a lot of double faults in the first game of the third set, so I was just trying to fix that first of all.”

“To play against Sloane, she just won a tournament and I’m sure she’s feeling really confident with herself, that was a really good test for me. But at the same time I do need to play a lot more matches and I do need to give myself the opportunity to get more into the swing of things.”

Osaka, who won the 2018 Indian Wells title, will now meet No. 21 seed 21 seed Veronika Kudermetova.

In other results, Amanda Anisimova moved on in straight sets, though without the services of Darren Cahill who abruptly ended their partnership earlier this week in the desert.

Shelby Rogers, Kaja Juvan and Marie Bouzkova were also winners.

Today, the second round opens with seeds taking center stage including teen sensations Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff on Stadium 1.

Garbine Muguruza, Simona Halep and Iga Swiatek are also on court today.

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