Former top-ranked tennis player Naomi Osaka was eliminated from the 2024 Mutua Madrid Open in the second round by Liudmila Samsonova after a three-set match.
Key points:
- After winning the previous day, Osaka Osaka lost to Samsonova, 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 on April 25.
- The match It was a turbulent match, with both players taking turns in breaking serve and Osaka coming close to winning.
- The loss represents another chapter in Osaka’s challenges on clay. She has not won consecutive matches on the slow surface since 2019.
- Samsonova’s victory ends her four-game losing streak.
The specifics:
- Osaka made a return to tennis in January after a long break. She secured her first clay win in two years against Belgium’s Greet Minnen on Wednesday.
- The match on Thursday, lasting two hours and 22 minutes, saw the 15th seed Samsonova dominating the first set.
- Osaka, a former world No. 1, won the second set and came close to winning the decider but ultimately lost.
- “This win means everything,” stated Samsonova after the match. “I was in a really tough situation today after the second set.”
- The Japanese tennis player has never made it to a clay-court final and has yet to reach the third round at the French Open.
What comes next:
- Samsonova progresses to play Madison Keys in the following round.
- Osaka, together with English player Emma Raducanu, has earned a place in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals scheduled to be held in Seville, Spain, from Nov. 12-17.
