Naomi Osaka’s return to Japan’s Fed Cup team after a year’s absence on Friday turned sour as the world No. 10 suffered a thrashing at the hands of Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo.
The two-time Grand Slam champion was expected to give Japan a huge boost in their bid to overcome five-time champions Spain at the La Manga Club near Murcia, Spain, but lost 6-0, 6-3.
Osaka, whose Australian Open title defense was terminated by 15-year-old Coco Gauff, looked totally ill at ease on the clay, as she racked up 50 unforced errors in a torrid display against the world No. 78 who claimed only a second Fed Cup singles win.
Photo: AFP
“Honestly, it wasn’t even a match,” an emotional Osaka said.
“For me I’m kind of dealing with some stuff and I couldn’t mentally get into the match,” she said. “It’s sort of ... my fault.”
Claycourt specialist Carla Suarez Navarro, playing in her last home tie for Spain, then beat Misaki Doi 6-3, 6-4 to put Spain 2-0 ahead going into yesterday’s reverse singles.
Spain needed to win just one of yesterday’s three contests to book their place in the inaugural Fed Cup Finals featuring 12 nations in Budapest in April.
Holders France, runners-up Australia, wildcards the Czech Republic and hosts Hungary are to definitely be involved in the revamped event, leaving eight others to book their places in this weekend’s qualifiers.
Switzerland are well-placed after moving 2-0 ahead in their tie against a much-weakened Canada side in Biel, Switzerland.
Jil Teichmann battled past teenager Leylah Annie Fernandez before Belinda Bencic beat Gabriela Dabrowski, who was a late replacement for an injured Eugenie Bouchard.
Canada were also unable to call upon US Open champion Bianca Andreescu for Friday’s singles.
The Netherlands and Belarus were locked at 1-1, with Aryna Sabalenka leveling the tie after Kiki Bertens had put the Netherlands ahead with victory over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Britain’s hopes of reaching the Budapest showdown are hanging by a thread after falling 2-0 behind in Slovakia.
Heather Watson was beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Anna Karolina Schmiedlova before Harriet Dart lost to 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 7-5 to Viktoria Kuzmova, despite coming back from 2-5 down in the decider.
Romania were without Simona Halep in Cluj, Romania, but ended the first day level at 1-1 with four-time winners Russia, while Belgium were also locked at one apiece with Kazakhstan.
Germany are in the driving seat in Brazil after wins for Laura Siegemund and Tatjana Maria in Florianopolis.
Later the US, who have won a record 18 Fed Cup titles, attempt to book their place in Budapest, as they begin their tie against Latvia.
Newly crowned Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin leads the team, with Serena Williams relegated to second singles spot.
Tallon Griekspoor on Friday stunned top seed Alexander Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) in the second round at Indian Wells, avenging a devastating loss to the German at Roland Garros last year. Zverev, the world No. 2 who is heading the field of the prestigious ATP Masters event with No. 1 Jannik Sinner serving a three-month drugs ban, is the first Indian Wells men’s top seed to lose his opening match since Andy Murray in 2017. It was a cherished win for Griekspoor, who had lost five straight matches — including four last year — to the German. That included a five-setter
Five-time champion Novak Djokovic on Saturday tumbled out of the Indian Wells ATP Masters, falling in his first match to lucky loser Botic van de Zandschulp as two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced. “No excuses for a poor performance,” 24-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic said after 37 unforced errors in a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat. “It doesn’t feel great when you play this way on the court,” he said. “But congratulations to my opponent — just a bad day in the office, I guess, for me.” Djokovic is just the latest in Van de Zandschulp’s string of superstar victims. He
Manchester United on Thursday settled for a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad in the first leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie. United led on Joshua Zirkzee’s goal in the 58th minute, but the hosts equalized 12 minutes later after Bruno Fernandes’ hand ball and Mikel Oyarzabal sent Andre Onana the wrong way from the penalty spot. The Europa League could be a way for United to finish the season with a trophy after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday. A spot in the quarter-finals is to be on the line at Old Trafford in the second leg on Thursday next
Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday held their nerve to beat Liverpool 4-1 on penalties and reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after their tie finished one-apiece on aggregate, while Bayern Munich saw off Bayer 04 Leverkusen to complete a 5-0 win over both legs. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha fired Barcelona into the next round as the Catalans bested SL Benfica 3-1, and Inter booked a last-eight meeting with Bayern by seeing off Feyenoord 2-1. At Anfield, Ousmane Dembele netted the only goal of the night as PSG bounced back from Liverpool’s late winner last week to force the tie to extra-time and penalties. Maligned
RSS