Naomi Osaka, the former world number one, went to the second round of the WTA Toronto Masters on Wednesday, defeating Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur 6-3, 6-1.
In her return from maternity leave, the four-time Grand Slam champion from Japan required only 72 minutes to defeat ninth-seeded Jabeur and win her fifth match of the year over a top-20 player.
Osaka has won all seven of her WTA titles on hardcourts, including the 2018 and 2020 US Opens and the 2019 and 2021 Australian Open titles, and she intends to add this US Open hardcourt tuneup to her resume.
“Everyone knows I really love hard courts. I wasn’t thinking too much. It was very instinctual,” Osaka said of her victory. “When I play the best players, like Ons, I tend to play better.
“I’m feeling quite confident in myself as a person and as a player, and I think that showed a little.”
Osaka won her first match in Canada since reaching the 2019 quarterfinals, with 14 winners and 13 unforced errors, while Jabeur produced 27 unforced errors in her first encounter since Wimbledon.
Osaka will next face Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she has split two matches this year. Mertens won in Indian Wells. Osaka won on grass in’s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands.
Paula Badosa of Spain defeated Denmark’s Clara Tauson 6-1, 6-4, extending her winning streak to five sets and advancing to the second round against fourth seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Diana Shnaider, the 14th seed from Russia, trailed a break three times in the last set before defeating Britain’s Harriet Dart 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7/2).
China’s Yuan Yue defeated Spain’s Cristina Bucsa 6-3, 6-3 to go to the second round against second seed Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time and defending Australian Open champion.