Miami Open: Naomi Osaka cruises past Angelique Kerber to reach third round

Naomi Osaka beat Angelique Kerber 6-2 6-3 on Thursday in a one-sided clash of two former world number ones to reach the third round of the Miami Open, where Garbine Muguruza and Simona Halep withdrew with injuries. Four-times Grand Slam champion Osaka made a strong start against German 13th seed Kerber, grabbing an early break to go 2-0 up and dominating on serve in a 29-minute opening set.

Osaka denied Kerber any chance of getting back into the match and had total control of her game as she went on to close out the 60-minute contest on her third match point when her opponent sent a forehand long. The victory was Osaka's first against Kerber since the 2017 U.S. Open and denied her opponent a fifth consecutive win in their head-to-head series, which the German now leads 4-2. It also marked Osaka's first win over a top-20 player since last year's Miami Open.

"It is a confidence booster, but I didn't go into the match not confident, if that makes sense," Osaka told reporters. "For me, it kind of just shows all the hard work that I have been doing throughout the year." Up next for Osaka, who arrived in Miami following a second-round loss at Indian Wells where she was reduced to tears after being heckled during the match, will be Czech Karolina Muchova, who beat U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez 6-4 7-6(3). In other second-round action, Olympic doubles champion Katerina Siniakova was down a set and a break but rallied to secure a 3-6 6-4 7-5 win over U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu in a match lasting nearly three hours.

It was a remarkable turnaround for the unseeded Czech, who made several calls for the trainer, the first while she was trailing 4-1 in the first set and appeared to be labouring in the heat. "For me it