Greeted with cheers, Naomi Osaka breezes into 2nd round of Miami Open

Naomi Osaka was greeted by some cheers when she walked onto the court, then got significantly louder ones when her work for the day was done.

Maybe the comforts of home helped.

Flashing the level of play that vaulted her to No. 1 in the world not too long ago, Osaka had little trouble in defeating Astra Sharma of Australia 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday — the first full day of play at the Miami Open.

Osaka is Japanese-born, calls California home now, but spent much of her youth in South Florida, basically just a few miles north of where the Miami Open is now held.

"I kind of consider this like my home tournament," Osaka said, before her words got drowned out by more cheers and applause from fans. "This is the tournament that I loved coming to once a year. I'm just really happy to be back out here."

"This is like my home tournament. This is the tournament I loved coming to once a year."