Naomi Osaka dropped the first set before rallying to beat Leylah Fernandez 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Tuesday to advance to the second round of the WTA’s 1,000-level Wuhan Open.
Osaka was back in the central Chinese city for the first time since 2017 and, in the day’s first match on center court, facing the player who produced a major upset to beat her at the 2021 U.S. Open.
Fernandez converted one of her two first-set breakpoint chances and served consistently. But Osaka stepped up pressure on the service returns in the second set, which featured five service breaks, and finished over the top of the 2021 U.S. Open finalist.
Emma Raducanu, who beat Fernandez to win the U.S. Open title four years ago, was trailing Ann Li 6-1, 4-1 when she retired from their first-round match due to dizziness.
In other early matches, Sofia Kenin edged Anastasia Zakharova 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 to set up a second-round meeting against No. 16 Liudmila Samsonova, who beat Emiliana Arango 6-1, 7-5.
No. 2 Iga Swiatek was scheduled to make her Wuhan tournament debut in a second-round match against Marie Bouzkova in the night session.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and No. 3 Coco Gauff were due to open Wednesday. No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, the runner-up at both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon this year, withdrew from the Wuhan Open citing a left calf muscle injury after winning the China Open title.
Elsewhere, Canada’s Gabriel Diallo was bounced from the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Tuesday.
Zizou Bergs of Belgium beat the Montreal native three sets – 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5) – in their round of 16 match.
That leaves fellow Montrealer Felix Auger-Aliassime as the lone Canadian left in the the tournament. He’ll face Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti on Wednesday.
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