Azarenka downs Osorio, Osaka ousts Errani from Italian Open; Muller mauls Lehecka

Victoria Azarenka, the 2013 Internazionali BNL d’Italia finalist, opened her 2025 campaign with a straight-sets defeat of Camila Osorio.

Fresh off capturing last week’s Saint-Malo WTA 125 title, Naomi Osaka extended her winning streak to six after coming from 3-1 down in the second set to defeat wild card Sara Errani in the Internazionali BNL d’Italia first round.

Caroline Dolehide needed 2 hours and 48 minutes on Wednesday to overcome lucky loser Olivia Gadecki and reach the second round.

Earlier, Osaka opened her account with a 6-2, 6-3 win over wild card Errani. She struck 40 winners in total, frequently finding breathtaking angles with her backhand, to overcome the clay-court wiles of the 38-year-old Italian.

That’s a six-match winning streak now, on a surface Osaka has long regarded with suspicion. She will next face No. 9 seed Paula Badosa.

For players who’ve reached the highest level of the sport, the idea of competing at a lower tier can be a complicated one — so much so that it became the central theme of Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 film “Challengers.”

Can a star player still feel they’re to good for a relatively lowly event, even when their ranking is no longer in the Top 30? Does it bring unnecessary added pressure when casual fans expect you to cruise to the title?

“I didn’t really have too much of an ego playing that tournament,” Osaka told the press with a smile after defeating Errani. She was still conscious of the chatter around her last-minute decision, though.

Obviously I would have been really disappointed to lose in the first round,” she said. “I guess I would think that people would say that if I didn’t win the trophy. ... There’s a lot of situations that could have occurred. For me, I just wanted to focus on the tennis. I wanted to rack up experience on clay.

“I’ve always told people that I’m OK, like, playing on Court 16 if I have to anyways. The reason I came back wasn’t to play on center courts all the time, it’s because I really enjoy the game.”

Meanwhile, Alexandre Muller saved two match points on Wednesday against Jiri Lehecka to earn a thrilling first-round win at the Italian Open in Rome.

The Frenchman fended off two match points on serve at 4-5 in the third set before eventually prevailing 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) in two hours and 38 minutes. With his third Top 40 win of the season, Muller set a second-round clash with Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Muller, who came through qualifying to reach the fourth round in Rome last year, has impressed on clay this season. The 28-year-old reached the final in Rio de Janeiro and the third round in Madrid last week. He is playing at a career-high No. 39 in the PIF ATP Rankings this week.

Jordan Thompson also won a third-set tie-break on Day 1 in the Italian capital. The Australian clawed past big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) to advance to the second round in Rome for the second consecutive year.

Thompson now leads Mpetshi Perricard 5-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, defeating him in Miami and Monte-Carlo in 2025. He will next play Brandon Nakashima.

In a day of three setters, Tallon Griekspoor defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 and Corentin Moutet beat Rinky Hijikata 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. Griekspoor fired 16 aces, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to victory and will next play Arthur Fils.

“He is a very tough competitor and we always have big battles and this was the first one on clay,” said Greikspoor, who leads Kecmanovic 4-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. “I let it slip at the end of the first set but I am really happy with the level I put on the court in the second and third sets.”

Moutet produced a number of stunning drop shots in his win against Hijikata and now has a meeting with countryman Ugo Humbert.

Argentine qualifier Roman Andres Burruchaga earned victory on his ATP Masters 1000 debut, eliminating Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 6-3. The 23-year-old is up 14 spots to No. 121 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and will next meet 23rd seed Karen Khachanov. In other action, Camilo Ugo Carabelli beat Spanish lucky loser Pablo Carreno Busta 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 and will play second seed Alexander Zverev next, while Spanish qualifier Carlos Taberner downed Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.

Agencies