Osaka rallies past Fernandez for long-awaited Wuhan win
In the stifling humidity of Wuhan, Naomi Osaka shook off an early stumble to outlast Leylah Fernandez in a three-set thriller, claiming her maiden victory here and reigniting momentum in a demanding season.
Under the punishing Wuhan sun, Naomi Osaka returned to the Dongfeng · Voyah Wuhan Open courts eight years after a first-round defeat, her game sharpened by a season of highs and hurdles. The four-time major winner faced Leylah Fernandez in the opening round, a matchup that quickly mirrored past struggles as she double-faulted the first point and surrendered an early break. Yet over two and a half hours, Osaka’s baseline power and mental grit prevailed, turning a 4-6 first-set loss into a 7-5, 6-3 comeback that marked her debut win in this WTA 1000 event.
Early nerves yield to familiar fight
The opening frame set a tense rhythm on the medium-paced hard courts, where Osaka held her first service game after a seven-minute battle but watched Fernandez seize the initiative with a break to lead 3-2. The Canadian, leveraging flat groundstrokes to control rallies, dropped just five points on serve en route to a 42-minute set victory. As temperatures pushed 85 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity amplifying the heat to near 90 percent, Osaka’s serve showed vulnerability, but her deep returns hinted at the adjustments brewing beneath the surface.
This shaky start echoed her 2017 exit to Elise Mertens in three sets, yet the Japanese star refused to let history repeat fully. Fernandez’s crosscourt replies kept Osaka pinned, forcing defensive slices that lacked their usual bite, but the crowd’s growing murmurs offered a subtle lift amid the building pressure. By holding firm in longer exchanges, Osaka began probing for openings, her inside-out forehands gaining depth as the match shifted toward a tactical duel.
Second-set breaks test endurance
The middle set erupted into a grueling exchange, with five service breaks and 13 break points turning every game into a mental skirmish on the grippy surface. Osaka bolted to a 3-0 lead, her one–two combinations of serve and backhand down-the-line disrupting Fernandez’s rhythm, only for six double faults to fuel the Canadian’s fightback to 4-all. At 3-4, down 0-40, the 23-year-old saved three break points with underspin lobs and inside-in winners, stretching the frame toward an hour of relentless baseline probing.
Osaka’s frustration surfaced in tighter body language, the heat sapping energy from both as they invoked the heat rule for a 10-minute court break before the decider. Fernandez reemerged first, but those extra moments allowed the former world No. 1 to steady her toss and refine her patterns, breaking at love later to claim the set and even the match. This resilience aligned with her season’s pattern: four opening-round wins in seven WTA 1000s, each building toward reclaiming her edge post-motherhood.
A first win in Wuhan 🙌@naomiosaka overcomes Fernandez 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in Round 1.#WuhanOpen pic.twitter.com/HuHughqZ99
— wta (@WTA) October 7, 2025
Decider dominance cements momentum
Refreshed from the shadows, Osaka stormed the third set with leads of 3-0 and 4-1, her nine aces—above her 6.7 seasonal average—overpowering Fernandez’s returns while winning nearly 70 percent of first-serve points and 60 percent on seconds, despite eight doubles overall. The Canadian, drained by the humidity, faltered under the pressure, her errors mounting as Osaka varied crosscourt rallies with inside-out lasers to stretch the court wide. Sealing the 6-3 win on her second match point with a backhand winner, she exhaled in relief, evening their head-to-head at 1-1 and becoming the first Japanese player to win at least once in every current WTA 1000 tournament.
This triumph tied her personal best with seven comebacks in 2025, behind only Madison Keys’ 10, and marked her 10th three-set victory of the year, approaching the 17 from 2019. Her form now boasts 12 wins in 15 matches, the hottest streak since her 2021 Australian Open title, encompassing a Canadian Open final and US Open semifinal that underscore a psychological shift from early doubts to embraced grind. For the tournament’s pulse, follow the scores, draws, and order of play.
Ahead lies Liudmila Samsonova in the second round, their fourth meeting this season and sixth overall, where Osaka leads 3-2 including a 2-1 edge in 2025 with a Montreal victory en route to the final. On these hard courts suiting power baselines, her refined serve and rally control could unlock a first third-round berth, propelling her rankings ascent in the fall’s crucial swing. As @naomiosaka eyes deeper runs, the #WuhanOpen buzz builds around her pic.twitter.com/HughqZ99 moment, shared by the WTA on October 7, 2025.
