Naomi Osaka triumphs over Lucia Bronzetti in her return to the China Open

Naomi Osaka of Japan secured a first-round 6-3, 6-2 win against Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in the Diamond Court on Wednesday as she attempts to repeat her 2019 China Open tournament title. This is Osaka’s first time playing in Beijing since then.

“I’m glad I’m able to be on this court again,” Osaka said following the match. “I hope to be able to lift a trophy again sometime soon.”

Although Osaka won each set comfortably, Bronzetti kept her on guard. Bronzetti found her footing in defensive maneuvers and capitalized on Osaka’s 22 unforced errors. She also tried to combat Osaka’s power by using that against her. While Osaka was constantly pushing Bronzetti back behind the baseline, especially on her serve, she also had a number of balls shoot past the back of the court.

Bronzetti’s defense was also seen in a number of back-and-forth deuces that extended the match. Game 7 in the first set and Games 6 and 7 in the second set all saw Osaka and Bronzetti trading points to gain advantage over each other more than four times. Osaka won all three of the drawn-out point battles, but Bronzetti gave Osaka a run for each win.

Osaka had a number of successful plays, with eight aces compared to Bronzetti’s one. Still, Osaka showed frustration after losing points, taking practice swings each time. She was constantly on the move, doing footwork and warm-ups between games.

This was the second time that World No. 73 Osaka and World No. 77 Bronzetti have played each other. Their first match-up was at Roland Garros earlier this year. Both times Osaka won.

Today's match also was Osaka’s first win under new coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who previously coached Serena Williams. Osaka parted ways with her former coach Wim Fissette following the U.S. Open.

Osaka will face No. 21 Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in the second round of the tournament. The two have met five times prior to this, with Osaka winning their last match-up.

“When I play her, I just try to focus on my side of the net,” Osaka said. “I try to do that in general. Against her, especially.”

—Reporting by CJ Christy