Naomi Osaka fought through an injury to defeat defending champion Suzan Lamens 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-2 and advance to the quarterfinals of the Japan Open on Wednesday.
The No. 1 seed in her home-country tournament, Osaka was up 5-0 in the third set when she called for a medical timeout. After trainers heavily wrapped her left thigh, she returned to the court and dropped two games before defeating Lamens, of the Netherlands. Her movement was hampered, however.
Osaka was helped by her own nine aces and eight double faults by Lamens.
Also advancing to her fifth quarterfinal of 2025 was Sorana Cirstea of Romania, a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Katie Boulter of Great Britain. Olga Danilovic of Serbia defeated Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-4 to move on.
Ningbo Open
No. 6 seed Belinda Bencic survived a late rally by Yuliia Starodubtseva to move on to the quarterfinal in Ningbo, China, after a 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 win.
Bencic, of Switzerland, had a 5-2 lead and a double match point, but Ukraine’s Starodubtseva launched a furious rally. She fended off the match points to break Bencic’s serve, then another break tied the match at 5-5. But Starodubtseva couldn’t win her next service game, a marathon frame that saw five deuces, and Bencic served out for the win.
Diana Shnaider of Russia, the No. 7 seed, also came from behind to win in three sets, defeating Czech Karolina Muchova 2-6, 6-1, 6-2. Aila Tomljanovic of Australia was a 7-6 (6), 6-3 winner over Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey.
–Field Level Media
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