Berlin Open: Another first-round defeat for Osaka

Russian Liudmila Samsonova edged out Japanese wildcard Naomi Osaka 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-4 to advance to the second round of the Berlin Open at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club on Tuesday.

It’s the second straight first-round defeat for Naomi Osaka following her loss to Paula Badosa at Roland Garros.

Samsonova clinches a place in the Berlin second round for the first time since 2022.

“I was just trying to fight till the end,” Samsonova said on court. “I said, ‘OK, till the last ball, I will try to push and try to find my game.’”

Samsonova, ranked No 20, will face No 3 seed Jessica Pegula next.

Berlin WTA 500, other first-round results (Rot-Weiss Tennis Club, grass, EUR 925.661, most recent results first):

• Elena Rybakina vs. Qinwen Zheng
• Amanda Anisimova vs. Bianca Andreescu
• Diana Shnaider vs. Donna Vekic
• Marketa Vondrousova vs. Madison Keys
• Xinyu Wang (Q) beat Daria Kasatkina: 6-3, 6-2
• Paula Badosa (8) beat Eva Lys (WC): 6-1, 6-3
• Magdalena Frech beat Mirra Andreeva (6): 2-6, 7-5, 6-0
• Rebeka Masarova (Q) beat Sofia Kenin (Q): 6-3, 6-2
• Ons Jabeur (LL) beat Caroline Dolehide (Q): 7-6 (5), 6-1
• Emma Navarro beat Marta Kostyuk: 6-2, 6-3
• Katerina Siniakova (Q) beat Viktoriya Tomova (Q): 6-1, 6-2