Naomi Osaka held her nerve through wind, cold and a series of late chances to defeat 20th seed Sara Bejlek 7-6(4), 6-4 on Sunday, booking a place in the China Open last 16 in Beijing for the fourth time.
- Bejlek put Osaka under sustained pressure in the opening set, creating four set points before the former world No. 1 forced a tiebreak.
- Osaka took the breaker 7-4, edging the key exchanges despite the difficult conditions.
- The second set remained tight, with Bejlek continuing to attack Osaka’s serve. Across the match, the Czech generated nine break-point opportunities.
- Osaka converted the decisive moments and needed five match points to complete the 7-6(4), 6-4 result after a little more than two hours.
The pair were meeting for the first time on the WTA Tour, and there was little margin between them for much of the contest. Osaka’s ability to protect her serve when threatened proved decisive against a determined Bejlek challenge.
“I’m very pleased with my performance,” Osaka said after the match. “The conditions were not ideal, but they were the same for both of us, so I do not want to complain about them. She is a very good player, and it is nice to come through in straight sets.”
Osaka’s first-set record remains formidable
The victory moved Osaka to 28-2 this season in matches where she has claimed the first set. Her only defeats from that position came against the world’s top two players: Aryna Sabalenka in Madrid and Elena Rybakina in Toronto.
With the win, Osaka advances into the Round of 16 in Beijing once again, extending her run at the China Open after surviving one of the tournament’s more demanding early-round tests.
