Naomi Osaka puts demon of Indian Wells exit behind her
Naomi Osaka says she wants to put the traumatic experience of Indian Wells behind her after she beat Australia's Astra Sharma 6-3 6-4 at the Miami Open.
Naomi Osaka cruised to a 6-3 6-4 against Astra Sharma at the Miami OpenHeckles from the crowd during her second-round defeat to Veronika Kudermetova in California reduced the former world number one to tears.
She acknowledged this after defeating the world number 96, saying "the last match I played was not the greatest memory for me".
The 24-year-old also said, "I didn't want to let anything bother me, no matter what happened.
"I wanted to prove that I could come back out here and compete, and no matter if I won or lost, to just know that I had the best attitude I could."
Osaka will now face 13th seed Angelique Kerber in the next round after securing her 50th win at a WTA 1000 tournament.
In better news for Australian tennis, Nick Kyrgios also made it through to the second round after defeating France’s Adrian Mannarino 7-6 6-3.
The wildcard has slipped significantly down the rankings of late, but 12 aces saw him win comfortably.
He will now face fifth seed Andrey Rublev or Russia in the second round, where he will be a "complete underdog" by his own admission.
"It was a hell of a performance," said Kyrgios after defeating Mannarino.
There will also be an all-British second round tie as Cameron Norrie will face Jack Draper.
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