Osaka rings in the New Year by reaching Auckland Open quarter-finals

Japanese Naomi Osaka, the No 7 seed, moved into the last eight of the Auckland Open by beating Austrian Julia Grabher 7-5, 6-3 at the ASB Tennis Arena on Wednesday, January 1.

Osaka used just an hour, 28 minutes to get the better of Grabher, hitting five aces and averaging an impressive 82 percent on the second-serve points.

Coached by Patrick Mouratoglou, the Japanese broke her opponent’s serve twice as she saved two break points on her serve to advance.

Osaka, ranked No 57, will face the winner of the match between American Hailey Baptiste and lucky loser Jodie Burrage next. It will be her third quarter-final appearance since returning to the WTA Tour from a maternity break.

Ahead of her victory, the Japanese won against Israeli qualifier Lina Glushko (6-4, 6-4).

Grabher, ranked No 470, edged out Spanish qualifier Leyre Romero Gormaz (2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7)) in the previous round of the Auckland tournament.

Auckland WTA 250, other second-round results (ASB Tennis Arena, hard, USD 275.094, most recent results first):

• Hailey Baptiste vs. Jodie Burrage
• Greet Minnen vs. Alycia Parks
• Nao Hibino vs. Robin Montgomery
• Madison Keys vs. Jaqueline Cristian
• Katie Volynets vs. Ann Li
• Sofia Kenin vs. Clara Tauson
• Bernarda Pera beat Rebecca Marino: 7-6 (2), 6-4

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