The world No 1, Naomi Osaka, crashed out of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships after losing in straight sets against France’s Kristina Mladenovic. Osaka, who announced a surprise split from her coach Sascha Bajin this month, was beaten 6-3 6-3 in the second round, having received a first-round bye as the top seed. The 21-year-old, who won the Australian Open last month and the US Open last year, gave no reasons for ending her successful partnership with Bajin. Osaka enjoyed a remarkable rise up the world rankings after first linking up with Bajin in the 2017 off-season. The Japanese player climbed from 72nd to reach the top five during the course of 2018, when she won her first grand slam title, and then hit top spot after her success in Melbourne. Bajin, who has previously worked as hitting partner for Serena Williams, Caroline Wozniacki, Sloane Stephens and Victoria Azarenka, was named WTA coach of the year in 2018. He responded to Osaka’s tweet announcing the split by replying: “Thank you Naomi I wish you nothing but the best as well. What a ride that was. Thank you for letting me be part of this.”<doc-sep>The Telegraph Two of the surprise packages of this clay-court season have been British – initially Dan Evans, who made a deep run in Monte Carlo, and more lately Cameron Norrie, who played his second final in three weeks on Sunday. Unfortunately, Norrie wasn’t able to land a maiden ATP title in Lyon. But then he was up against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has been the dominant force of 2021 outside the slams, and now stands at No 1 in the table of most rankings points gained since January 1. Nevertheless, it had been a hugely creditable effort for Norrie to go this far, especially when you consider that he took out top seed Dominic Thiem on Thursday, and then trounced big-hitting Russian Karen Khachanov in Saturday’s semi-final, losing only two games in the process. Norrie has come to clay late in his career, but it feels like this is developing into his favourite surface. He has one of the heaviest left-handed forehands in the game, loaded with top-spin, and uses it like a miniature version of Rafael Nadal. The result has been a tally of 14 wins and only four losses since he began his European clay-court swing in Barcelona. So while the French Open, which starts next Sunday, has traditionally been a graveyard of British hopes, there are reasons to hope that this year’s event could deliver some more positive results. Norrie’s previous final in Estoril had been a nervewracking affair which he eventually lost on a deciding-set tie-break to the more experienced Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Sunday was more straightforward for Tsitsipas, who needed only 69 minutes to hammer home a 6-3, 6-3 victory. It was Tsitsipas’ second title of the clay-court sequence, after he won Monte Carlo in mid-April, taking out Evans in the semi-final along the way. He has become a serious contender to upset the establishment – specifically Nadal and Novak Djokovic – at Roland Garros over the next few weeks. “I felt in good shape from the beginning of the tournament,” said Tsitsipas afterwards. “I am proud of today’s match, I knew it would be a difficult one against Cameron, who has been showing great tennis this week. He has been winning against good players and showing what the left hand can do on clay. “It was not an easy match today. I had to handle the nerves and I am proud of my performance and the way I stayed focused towards my goal.” On this year’s results, meanwhile, both Evans and Norrie stand among the world’s 20 most successful men. Evans is at No 16 and Norrie No 14. The next challenge for them both is to convert that ATP Tour form into a deep run at a major.<doc-sep>
The world no. 1 and the top seed Naomi Osaka has opened Indian Wells title defense with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over Kristina Mladenovic in an hour and 21 minutes for the tenth win of the season. A few weeks ago in Dubai, it was Mladenovic who celebrated the victory although that could never be the case today, facing ten break points and suffering three breaks while converting only once chance on the return which was enough for the better result. The Japanese served at 71% and had the advantage in the pivotal moments, reducing the damage in her games and winning 42% of the return points to keep the pressure on the return all the time. Naomi had 24 winners and the same number of errors, controlling the pace and leaving Mladenovic on a 16-24 ratio, taking eight points more than the French girl to kick off the title run in style. The first break of the match came in game six when Kristina hit a double fault to drop serve on the fourth break point she offered to Naomi who saved a break point in game nine before sealing the deal with a backhand down the line winner for a 6-3. The Japanese secured another break in game three of the second set after a volley error from Mladenovic who made another one in the seventh game to find herself 5-2 down. Kristina erased one break in the next game when Naomi hit a double fault, moving closer to 4-5 and creating a break point in game ten that could have kept her in contention. Osaka saved it with a service winner and she fired another one to seize the match point and advance into the next round.