Osaka wears Hana Yagi, holds off Paolini in Tokyo homecoming
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Returning to the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis for the first time in four years, No. 7 seed Naomi Osaka delivered in terms of both her fashion and her tennis, saving triple set point in the second set to defeat Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 7-6(4) in the first round.
Osaka has been wowing audiences worldwide with a series of creative walk-on outfits this year, from a jellyfish-inspired look by Robert Wun at the Australian Open to Kevin Germanier's golden sequins at Roland Garros.
At Wimbledon, she collaborated with Tokyo-based designer Hana Yagi for an all-white kimono gown -- and, appropriately enough, the pair teamed up again in Yagi's home city. Osaka emerged on to Center Court in a blue-and-white cape embroidered with cranes -- a symbol of peace in Japan.
"It was very much inspired by Japan," Osaka said in her on-court interview. "I was really glad that [Hana Yagi] wanted to work with me again. For me, I haven't been here for a little bit of a while, so it's just nice to bring a bit of a show here."
Osaka last played a full Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis event in Tokyo in 2018, when she was runner-up to Karolina Pliskova. She won the title the following year, when the tournament was held in her birth city of Osaka. She contested the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, reaching the third round, and returned to the Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis in 2022 -- but was only on court for one game in total. Daria Saville retired from their first-round contest trailing 1-0 due to an ACL injury, and Osaka then withdrew ahead of her second round against Beatriz Haddad Maia due to illness. Since then, her sole appearance in the Japanese capital was for one victorious rubber in the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers.
After a season-long race, the world's top players converge in the California desert with the WTA's biggest title still to be won.
Making up for lost time, the 29-year-old enjoyed fast starts to both sets, then efficiently held off late charges by Paolini. Osaka leapt out to a 3-0 lead, only for the Italian to peg her back to 3-3 and hold a break point to move up 4-3. Paolini missed her opportunity by sending a forehand long, and Osaka swiftly regained control of the set with a barrage of down-the-line winners in the subsequent game.
Osaka also captured the first break of the second set to lead 3-2, only for Paolini to immediately break back as she found her best forehands of the day. The two-time major finalist required treatment on her left foot after she edged out to 4-3, but the quality of the contest remained high, and Paolini brought up triple set point at 6-5.
A forehand one-two punch and a backhand winner saved the first, and Osaka came through a high-octane exchange on the third as Paolini found the net with her forehand. The ensuing tiebreak was narrowly contested, and decided by just one mini-break -- another forehand error by Paolini to go down 5-3.
Osaka will next face 18-year-old Mia Pohankova, the 2025 Wimbledon junior champion. The No. 144-ranked Slovak wild card defeated 19-year-old qualifier Tereza Valentova 6-1, 6-4 in a 70-minute all-teenage tussle, improving to 8-6 in her career against Top 100 opposition. Osaka will be the first Top 20 player that Pohankova has faced.
Elsewhere, qualifier Yulia Putintseva came through a top-quality 2-hour, 26-minute tussle to defeat Maria Sakkari 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 and set a second-round meeting with No. 1 seed Elena Rybakina. The result was Putintseva's second win over Sakkari, but first since 2016 -- their first encounter, also in Tokyo.
Should Rybakina win the all-Kazakhstani tie against Putintseva, she will secure the year-end World No. 1 ranking. Their head-to-head is tied at two wins apiece -- Putintseva won their first two meetings at Rome 2020 and Indian Wells 2021, but Rybakina has won their two most recent at Madrid 2024 and Miami 2026.