Naomi Osaka: Former world number one reaches last eight of a tournament for first time since 2022
- Published
Osaka won her last Grand Slam title at the 2021 Australian Open
Former world number one Naomi Osaka is into the quarter-finals of a tournament for the first time in nearly two years.
The 26-year-old reached the last eight at the Qatar Open after her opponent Lesia Tsurenko withdrew before the match through injury.
Osaka returned to tennis last month after giving birth to her daughter Shai in July.
The run in Doha is her best since reaching the final of the Miami Open in April 2022, losing to Iga Swiatek.
A four-time major winner, Japan's Osaka will face an in-form Karolina Pliskova in the quarter-finals.
The Czech former world number one, who won her first WTA title in four years at the Transylvania Open on Sunday, beat compatriot Linda Noskova 3-6 7-5 6-1.
Top seed and two-time defending champion Swiatek also booked her quarter-final place with a 6-1 6-4 win over Ekaterina Alexandrova on Wednesday.
Poland's Swiatek will face two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka, who won 6-0 6-3 against Latvian eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Elsewhere in Doha, Australian Open runner-up Zheng Qinwen was defeated 7-5 6-3 by Canada's Leylah Fernandez, while Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova suffered a 7-5 6-3 loss to Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Sinner wins in first match since Australian Open triumph
Sinner will rise to third in the world rankings if he wins the Rotterdam Open
Italy's Jannik Sinner beat Botic van de Zandschulp in his first match since claiming a maiden Grand Slam title at the Australian Open last month.
Sinner, 22, started his winning run in Melbourne with a straight-set win against Van de Zandschulp and did so again on Wednesday in the first round of the Rotterdam Open.
The top seed needed just one hour and 27 minutes to wrap up a 6-3 6-3 victory to set up a last-16 meeting with France's Gael Monfils.
Sinner, who beat Daniil Medvedev in last month's Australian Open final, finished runner-up to the Russian in Rotterdam last year.
He will rise to a career-high third in the world rankings if he can go one step further this year.