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Osaka soars, Stephens withdraws at Volvo Car Open

[April 03, 2018] Naomi Osaka continued her strong start to the year on the same day in which American Sloane Stephens withdrew from the Volvo Car Open at Charleston, S.C.

While the 10th-seeded Osaka defeated American Jennifer Brady 6-4, 6-4 in her first-round match, Stephens pulled out on Monday, the same day she reached the Top 10 for the first time in her career.

The U.S. Open champion, who was seeded fourth for the clay-court tourney in Charleston, cited exhaustion after winning the Miami Open on Saturday.

"I'm so sorry to announce I won't be playing in Charleston this week," the ninth-ranked Stephens said in a statement. "My run to the title in Miami last weekend has left me completely exhausted/fatigued both physically and mentally. I don't feel prepared to play my best and therefore (it's) in my best interest to get some rest."

Stevens, who defeated Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in the Miami final, won the Charleston title in 2016.

On Monday, Osaka delivered 22 winners while dispatching Brady in 83 minutes.

The rising Japanese star recorded her first career victory last month when she won the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif.

"It already seems like a while ago," the 20-year-old Osaka said in her postmatch press conference. "People keep asking me how my life has changed, but I don't think it's changed too much. The people who surround me keep me in a bubble, so I'm not seeing too much outside that.

"I feel like I should just focus on tennis, and I don't want to dwell much on the past."

Osaka's second-round opponent will be German Laura Siegemund, who recorded a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Russian Natalia Vikhlyantseva.

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Australia's Daria Gavrilova, seeded 11th, had to rally to post a 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Ons Jabeur of Tunisia. Jabeur recorded 35 winners while Gavrilova had just 13.

Gavrilova next faces Italy's Camila Giorgi, who was a 6-1, 6-4 winner over Spain's Silvia Soler Espinosa.

In other matches involving seeded players, 12th-seeded Kiki Bertens of Netherlands defeated Paraguay's Veronica Cepede Royg 6-4, 6-1; 14th-seeded Frenchwoman Alize Cornet rolled past Ukraine's Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1, 6-2; and 15th-seeded Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu won the first set 6-4 against Belarus' Vera Lapko, who retired due to a knee injury.

Also, American Christina McHale defeated Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas 6-4, 6-2; American Caroline Dolehide outlasted Sweden's Johanna Larsson 5-7, 6-0, 6-4; American Bernarda Pera cruised past Slovakian Jana Cepelova 6-2, 6-2; Hungary's Fanny Stollar ousted American Francesca Di Lorenzo 7-5, 6-1; American Varvara Lepchenko defeated German Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 7-5; Serbian Aleksandra Krunic beat American Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-2, 6-2, and Slovenia's Polona Hercog knocked off Belgium's Maryna Zanevska 6-1, 6-4.

Lucky loser Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine was named to replace Stephens in the draw, and her first match will be in the second round against Pera.

--Field Level Media

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