Former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan continued her return to dominance on Saturday, pulling off a 6-2, 7-6 (5) upset of 15th-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the second round of the Miami Open in Miami Gardens, Florida.
After spending 15 months on maternity leave, Osaka returned to action at the Brisbane International at the start of the calendar year, where she was knocked out in the second round. She then failed to get past the first round at the Australian Open and the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open but has since caught fire.
Osaka made it to the quarterfinals at the Qatar Open before putting together a third-round run at the BNP Paribas Open as she continued to hit her stride.
"Obviously, I want to win tournaments, but I know I have to take it one step at a time," Osaka said Saturday. "Just winning matches. The more matches I win, the more comfortable I'll be ... and hopefully that will lead to holding something above my head one day."
Against Svitolina, Osaka saved three of four break points and won 27 of 38 first-serve points. She also had five aces to Svitolina's two.
Osaka next faces No. 23 seed Caroline Garcia of France in the third round.
American Danielle Collins also pulled off an upset on Saturday, topping 30th-seeded Russian Anastasia Potapova 6-2, 6-2. Collins' countrywoman, No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula, also won, claiming a 6-4, 4-1 victory via walkover against China's Lin Zhu.
Pegula is now one step closer to reaching the Miami Open semifinals for the third straight year.
"Obviously, pretty good memories, tennis-wise," Pegula said of her time in Miami Gardens.
In the next round, Pegula will take on No. 31 seed Leylah Fernandez of Canada, a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Colombia's Emiliana Arango.
Meanwhile, Polish No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek hit the century mark in style, downing Italian Camila Giorgi 6-1, 6-1 in the 100th WTA 1000 match of her career.
Other winners Saturday included 27th-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka and No. 26 seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic. Azarenka was playing a third-round match.
Eight more matches were scheduled for later Saturday.--REUTERS