Naomi Osaka begins Australian Open title defence with routine victory vs Marie Bouzkova

Winning start: Defending champion Naomi Osaka overcame Marie Bouzkova in straight sets.
AFP via Getty Images
Joe Krishnan20 January 2020

Defending champion Naomi Osaka made a winning start at the Australian Open with a straight sets victory over Marie Bouzkova.

The Japanese produced a professional performance to seal a 6-2, 6-4 victory in an hour and 20 minutes of play at the Rod Laver Arena.

Bidding to become the first woman to retain her title here since 2013, Osaka looked calm and composed from the off - a stark contrast to how she began the tournament last year.

It didn't take the 22-year-old long to secure a double break and she wrapped up the first set 6-2 inside 36 minutes, looking a class above her opponent.

Bouzkova had played some decent tennis in the first set though and clearly wasn't prepared to go down without a fight.

Osaka was forced to dig deep in order to protect her serve, surviving two break points in the second game of second set with a flurry of aces.

That was despite the fact that there was a hole in the net, with organisers making a quick dash to fix the damage inside five minutes.

Osaka appeared unmoved by the delay but it gave Bouzkova a chance to regroup and at 3-2, she took her chance to snare an unlikely break to threaten a deciding set.

But back came the two-time Grand Slam winner. After a crucial double fault from 21-year-old Bouzkova allowed her to break back instantly, she took the next four games to roar to victory with some relentless ground strokes. - proving the break in serve was merely a bump in the road.

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