Osaka saunters into China Open third round

Naomi Osaka is keen to move on from the “bittersweet” memories of last month’s US Open triumph and she did just that with a ruthless display at the China Open on Tuesday.

The young Japanese star thrashed unseeded American Danielle Collins 6-1, 6-0 in just 53 minutes on Beijing’s outside hard courts to saunter into round three.

The 20-year-old Osaka, whose maiden Grand Slam was overshadowed by Serena Williams’s row with the chair umpire in New York, faces 10th seed Julia Goerges next in the Chinese capital.

But the World No. 6 has appeared to struggle with the fall-out from the tempestuous final at the US Open, where Williams branded chair umpire Carlos Ramos “a thief” and later accused him of sexism.

“For me, I don’t know, I don’t know, the memory of the US Open is a little bit bittersweet,” Osaka said on Monday.

“Right after, the day after, I really didn’t want to think about it because it wasn’t necessarily the happiest memory for me.”

Secures WTA finals berth

Osaka has become the third player to secure a berth at the season-ending WTA Finals later this month after the 20-year-old from Japan amassed enough points in the Race to Singapore to qualify for the eight-woman event. 

Osaka stunned Serena Williams in straight sets to claim her and Japan’s first ever Grand Slam title in New York last month, and she backed that up with a run to the final at the Pan Pacific Open to all but ensure she would make her debut in Singapore.

After claiming victory in her opening match at the ongoing China Open in Beijing on Monday, Osaka joined World No. 1 Simona Halep of Romania and German Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber as qualifiers for the WTA Finals.

“Qualifying for the WTA Finals is a huge accomplishment,” said Osaka, who beat Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia to win a junior version of the Singapore tournament three years and will be returning for the first time as a senior. 

“Winning the WTA Rising Stars Invitational in 2015 helped give me the confidence to play on the big stages, so I am excited to go back to Singapore and compete with the top players of the season.” 

Big-hitting Czech Petra Kvitova and Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who won last year’s WTA Finals, are also poised to qualify for Singapore but the remaining spots appear to be a four-way battle for three places.

American Sloane Stephens, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, Czech Karolina Pliskova and Kiki Bertens from the Netherlands will fight it out to complete the field for the October 21-28 tournament being held for the fifth and final time in Singapore.