DUBAI, February 19, 2019

Playing her first match since winning the Australian Open and her first as the World No. 1, Naomi Osaka of Japan was beaten 6-3, 6-3 by an inspired Kristina Mladenovic at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Tuesday.

“I thought I played pretty bad,” said Osaka, while also admitting that she is not accustomed to being in the spotlight and is having trouble in dealing with that. “I mean, there are days that you have like that, and you just have to find a way to win no matter what the situation is. I haven’t been practicing well recently. I just thought it would go away during the matches. I was kind of counting on that. That didn’t happen.”

.@KikiMladenovic scores the biggest win of her career at @DDFTennis!

Upsets Osaka, 6-3, 6-3! pic.twitter.com/LMr20ULEVm

— WTA (@WTA) 19. Februar 2019

Their only previous meeting was in the first round in Dubai a year ago, and Osaka won easily on her way to the quarter-finals.

“She just overpowered me (then). I think I was not ready. My main focus today was really to return well,” said Mladenovic. “For sure it means a lot. At the moment, there’s a reason why she’s the best player in the world. I’m really proud how I stay composed. At the end it’s not easy to close it out. It’s not easy to play with that pressure.”

Svitolina opens title defence

Defending champion Elina Svitolina was given a helping hand as she began her bid to make tournament history when Tunisian star Ons Jabeur was forced to retire. Sixth seeded Svitolina had struggled to gain the upper hand against a determined opponent, but towards the end of the opening set Jabeur received lengthy treatment for a right shoulder injury. The match then no longer became a contest and Svitolina progressed 7-6 4-0.

Elina Svitolina (photo: DDFT)

She then acknowledged that she has extra incentive to succeed this week as she attempts to become the first WTA player to win the tournament for three consecutive years.

“Well, this is a big motivation for me here,” she said. “Today I didn’t really feel like in a match mood. I don’t know why. Was a bit struggling. (But) when I was 0-2 down, I told myself, ‘C’mon, you are here to make history of the tournament’.”

“We congratulate Elina Svitolina on her victory and look forward to seeing if she can win the title here for a third time,” said Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free. “Although Naomi Osaka was unable to progress we congratulate her for this week receiving the Laureus Award for breakthrough of the year; something that is so richly deserved after her remarkable 2018 season.”

Kvitova, Halep and Kerber advance

Second seed Petra Kvitova needed two hours 34 minutes to overcome the challenge of fellow Czech Katerina Siniakova, eventually pulling through 6-7 6-4 6-4, and third seed Simona Halep, fourth seed Karolina Pliskova and fifth seed Angelique Kerber all successfully emerged from difficult matches.

.@Simona_Halep advances at @DDFTennis

Overcomes a challenge from Bouchard, 7-6(4), 6-4! pic.twitter.com/WJTVL3iHga

— WTA (@WTA) 19. Februar 2019

Halep overcame a spirited challenge from Eugenie Bouchard to win 7-6 6-4 and claim her 200th main draw victory, Pliskova came through a rain-affected match with a 6-2 3-6 6-3 victory over Dominika Cibulkova and Kerber recovered from 1-5 in the first set to beat Dalila Jakupovic 7-6 6-3. Garbiñe Muguruza defeated Saisai Zheng 7-5 6-2, but 2018 runner-up Daria Kasatkina was defeated 6-3 2-6 6-4 by Sofia Kenin, and seventh seed Kiki Bertens fell 6-2 4-6 7-6 to Viktoria Kuzmova after holding a match point in the tiebreak. Fourteenth seed Caroline Garcia was also a casualty, falling 6-4 7-5 to qualifier Jennifer Brady.

“Today has been full of exciting battles which have seen the world No. 1 Naomi Osaka and last year’s finalist Daria Kasatkina beaten,” said Tournament Director Salah Tahlak. “Both our defending champion Elina Svitolina and recent Australian Open finalist Petra Kvitova also struggled to win their opening matches, and there will no doubt be many more thrilling contests and upsets in the days ahead.”